Competitor analysis

Five easy mistakes to avoid in your competitor analysis

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With more and more players in any given marketplace, it is essential to consider competitors in any media strategy. After all, it’s all well and good to show progress in your own efforts, but you might be missing a trick if you don’t contextualise this against players competing for a voice.

Diving blindly into your PR strategy will leave you lost in the proverbial trees. Putting a little thought into your competitor analysis provides a holistic perspective of the media awareness in your focus area, so you can better understand your benchmark and which moves to make next.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when designing your competitor analysis:

Tunnel Vision

You likely already know your immediate competitors, but there’s often dark horses that can sneak up on you without some level of monitoring. There may also be companies that exist within your market that you consider out of reach in one way or another — prematurely excluding these can stop you from meeting them on their turf.

Alternatively, there may be peer organisations that, while not directly competitors, share similar strategies and seek similar market exposure. Researching hidden, aspirational and indirect competitors can help you to see what works, adding confidence and inspiration to your own efforts.

Crowding the Field

When building an understanding of direct and indirect competitors, it can be tempting to try to capture every possible brand for monitoring and analysis. However, being too broad can result in obscured takeaways and the headache of sifting through endless content later. Refine your search by focusing on areas that need greater media awareness, such as a certain topic or company value.
If narrowing the field is proving difficult, you might consider creating multiple baskets of competitors, based on distinct products, strategies or areas of expertise, analysing them separately according to priority.

Lack of Purpose

Even with an ideal competitor analysis, things can easily get off track if there is not a clear goal or direction in mind. Using a set methodology or set of S.M.A.R.T. KPIs can help you see where you need to place your focus and why. This will greatly improve the value and efficiency of your competitor analysis, while exposing where to invest your limited resources wisely.

Tip: consider your organisation’s wider objectives when formulating your goals. Aligning with a particular outcome another team is seeking can also prove fruitful. For example, it could be beneficial to run a competitor analysis on target audiences for your sales team’s growth strategy. These purpose-driven considerations allow you to directly link the value of your work to organisational goals.

Lack of Consistency

While a one-time overview of the competitive landscape can be useful at a given point in time, fortunes can change quickly. Regularly keeping track of the changing tides ensures you are prepared for any challenge or opportunity that may come your way, as you are more effectively able to continue learning from – or reacting to – the wins and losses of your peers.

The Vuelio Insights Team recommends you perform a refresh of your competitor analysis no less than once a quarter to fully keep tabs on current happenings.

5. Ease over Value

Amidst your many competing priorities, taking the simple route for competitor analysis may seem attractive. However, the most valuable takeaways are often those that require zooming in on specific goals, widening the scope of possibility for competitors and measuring the true value of this coverage.

For example, quickly quantifying volume, reach, and Share of Voice is often a first stop on a competitor measurement journey. While these can be valuable touch points, it’s often a misconception of the true story. Despite the well-known saying, bad PR is, often, just bad PR.

Taking the extra time to measure the quality of coverage – rather than just the quantity of coverage – is essential to understand if a competitor is actually lagging behind you, or if they are quietly outcompeting you by maintaining a better quality coverage profile.

Tip: sentiment is a go-to metric when measuring coverage quality, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Consider comparing your organisation across a variety of other qualitative measures, such as prominence, key message penetration, press release coverage, quotes, etc. Quality measurement might also include looking at Share of Voice analyses on some of those qualities above (e.g. positive or negative share of voice), or within a defined list of target media.

Considering just a few of these small changes can help you to capitalise on new opportunities illuminated by new competitors, while avoiding their mistakes. This is a launching pad for achieving your S.M.A.R.T. KPIs and knowing how to confidently scale your successes moving forward.

Don’t have the time or headspace?

It’s one thing to read the tips, but it’s another to find the time and resources. The Vuelio Insights team does the work for you by creating expert-led, highly digestible media strategy reports just for you, so you can see exactly how you’re performing against competitors without the sense of analysis paralysis along the way.

Stand out from the crowd: A guide to personality-packed PR

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A successful comms strategy means creating messaging that resonates, building reliability and even likeability with key stakeholders — all major areas of PR that define how the public perceives your business.

But how do you ensure you are communicating with a consistent voice across all your campaign and comms activities?

Our latest white paper, ‘Stand out from the crowd: A guide to personality-packed PR’ examines what it takes to build a memorable brand personality.

With expert tips from PR and comms professionals, our report guides you through the steps to develop a brand personality for your business, from identifying your core traits and finding your voice to assembling your assets and boosting your reputation in the media.

 

Read the report to learn:

  • How to ensure your in-house team or agency is communicating in one voice
  • How to establish a brand personality that is right for your organisation
  • Which companies are nailing their tone-of-voice or falling a little flat

 

Download the report by filling in the form below.

Brand personality in practice - assembling your assets

Brand personality in practice: Assembling your assets

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Brand personality portrays the traits and emotions your customers associate with your business. A whole team, multiple departments, even a number of brands under one company umbrella can share a brand personality. That’s a lot of people communicating across a myriad of avenues. That comes with plenty of opportunities to go wrong.

A team tooled-up with what they need to communicate in one voice will be able to adapt depending on situation, audience, platform and the wider industry context at play.

They need a toolbox to work from, and this includes assets – a bank of logos, social cards, templates and guidelines to use. Here’s how to get these assembled to communicate and reinforce your brand personality:

A single source of truth

Brand guidelines that are clear and easily accessible to all who will be communicating on behalf of, or as, the brand are essential. No hasty guess work or last minute creativity will be needed in times of calm, or crisis if everything is already laid out:

‘Guidelines and messaging frameworks can take time to create, but they’re an essential part of aligning messaging across all departments,’ says DivideBuy’s senior content and PR manager Heather Wilkinson.

‘Collaborate together to agree on tone of voice, words to use and avoid, and official spelling and grammar guidance. Having a single source of truth document is great practice and allows everyone to move forward with confidence.’

‘To avoid PR and comms teams sounding like a bunch of tone-deaf amateurs, here’s the secret: create guidelines, and stick to ’em,’ adds Jade Arnell, founder of Rebellion Marketing.

‘Establish a clear tone-of-voice that mirrors your brand’s personality. Are you a sassy rebel or a refined intellectual?’

What should brand guidelines look like?

‘A brand style guide or a company communications handbook,’ says Rosser Jones, head of PR at Unlimit.

‘This guide should be used to restructure or redraft the company’s entire communications, internal and external, and it needs to be followed by everyone from the CEO to middle managers and the business development team.’

For external comms, make sure the guide is easy to work from by making it as concise as possible, says Tank’s head of PR Martyn Gettings. Include fonts, brand colours, which logos to use where:

‘Having external PR messages clarified on a single page for each client is a great way to ensure consistency across all comms. These messages are created with the core brand identity in mind, so you can be confident that they are a solid basis for the vast majority of communications. This will help the brand personality filter down through the whole team and ensure it remains authentic.’

Double-check: Is everyone onboard?

No brand personality is going to work with its intended audience if it smacks of inauthenticity – a cause of this could be team members with a reluctance to use assets they didn’t sign off on. Those at the c-suite level being hesitant to embrace and reinforce new guidelines also won’t help:

‘When launching a new brand personality, or updating an existing one, it can also be helpful to have a robust internal approval process with brand champions available to ensure nothing goes out the door which isn’t aligned with the brand guidelines,’ says Laura Price, partner at Pagefield.

‘While this can seem painful at the time, consistency and dedication to showing up with a unified brand personality is the only way to truly embed it within the audience’s perceptions.’

All aboard (E.g. agencies)

Ensuring an in-house team is all communicating in one voice is challenging enough. But what if you’re bringing in an external agency to communicate for your brand?

‘When an agency is brought on to support a brand’s PR and communications activity, it’s vital to introduce processes that support consistent and aligned messaging,’ says Jess Farmery, PR lead at SomX.

‘This can be achieved incredibly effectively with the right support mechanisms in place. During the agency’s onboarding, dedicate time to explaining and exploring your brand guidelines, tone of voice, any ‘dos and don’ts’, and contextualised examples.

‘Following this, ensure that everyone is provided with easy-to-access reference documents, templates, and further examples of how your brand guideless translate into communication content across several different channels.’

Bringing everyone on the journey (E.g. clients)
What about the other way around – when you’re an agency who has put a personality together for a client? Here’s advice from Mia Hodgekinson at Sway PR:

‘Communication is at the heart of all marketing and comms strategies, so we find that regular meetings and being kept up to speed on what they have coming up in their content calendar aligns or informs any PR activity we undertake.

‘It’s really important to visualise yourself as another cog in a big wheel. We all have our roles to play and, while those roles are different, they all need to work together to achieve the end goal – driving awareness of a brand or company.’

Repeat until you’re all singing from the same hymn sheet

Brand guidelines and the use of associated assets need time to be embedded into the muscle memory of your comms team, as well as in the culture of the company at large. This can only come with time, practice, and repetition, believes Laura at Pagefield.

‘Companies need to allocate resource to focus on this, investing time in brand and messaging training to make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet and is clear on the dos and don’ts of the brand voice.’

This doesn’t mean army-like drills every morning (unless that works with your company’s culture…). More practically, infographics can be pinned up around the office and quick reference guidelines printed out for desks at home. Absolutely vital, whenever people are working from – a shared online resource to dip into, whenever needed.

Refresher sessions

Those truly ‘living’ the brand personality in the day-to-day – social media managers replying to public enquiries, newsletter writers, campaign creators – will still need regular reminders of specifics as time goes on:

‘It’s important to have regular brand/messaging ‘refresher’ sessions. Encourage members of the team to demonstrate and share with their colleagues how they’ve applied that tone of voice across a variety of different formats,’ adds Laura.

‘Many brands also stop after training staff members on the brand guidelines,’ says FizzBox’s head of marketing Tom Bourlet.

‘The next step should be regular quality checks. This isn’t about micromanaging, but simply ensuring everyone is communicating in the pertinent manner.’

Evolve and adapt

As times change, brand identity and assets will need to evolve:

‘Remember to keep team members and agency partners abreast of any evolutions to your brand and communication guidelines,’ says Jess at SomX.
‘The easiest way to do this is to schedule regular comms team all-hands sessions to share relevant updates. Listen to what your agency partners have to say regarding TOV, too – they are actioning the guidelines day in day out, which gives them a unique perspective on how the brand is cutting through and resonating with the media and with stakeholders.’

Review, review, review

Onboarding, training, and refresher sessions can only do so much – everyone makes mistakes. Just as there’s safety in numbers, getting as many eyes as possible on content before it goes out can avert any dangers (be that typos, or something much worse).

‘Before any content is published, it ought to go through a centralised review process to ensure consistency and alignment,’ says Jess. ‘Any edits should be collated and fed back to the relevant person(s).’

Have a ‘The Buck Stops Here’ person, or people, that have ultimate sign-off, or are available for advice and support to ensure words and imagery stay consistent throughout:

‘’Brand bibles are usually developed and maintained by brand guardians, which is a politer name than brand police,’ says Susannah Morgan, deputy MD at Energy PR.

‘When a brand is fairly new, or the guidelines are really crucial to business success, then you have to be strict. It is very risky to leave any elements of brand application open to interpretation.

‘Brands are built with consistency over time. Inconsistency is very damaging – it confuses the audience and prevents them knowing what to expect, so a clear brand is never formed. PR teams need to know what not to do, as well as what to do. What would a brand never do, look, or say, is often easier to remember than how to get it right.’

Don’t forget: Measurement is also an asset…

Yes, really:

‘Including key brand messages in reporting processes as a KPI helps to ensure consistency in the long-term,’ says Tank’s head of PR Martyn Gettings.

‘Reporting on the cut-through of brand messages on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis makes it easy to see which elements of your brand’s personality resonate most with your key audiences. There is little point investing in a brand voice and personality unless its performance and impact are measured.’

Sign up for our the white paper ‘Stand out from the crowd: A guide to personality-packed PR’ here for more on this topic.

Trends in UK journalism: What are journalists writing about in August?

Summer trends in UK journalism: Holidays, Christmas, and Barbie

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The school holidays only began a couple of weeks ago but journalists have already been spending July sending out requests on the Journalist Enquiry Service for back-to-school products and information.

Festivals, gardening, Barbie and even Christmas have been some of the other keywords cropping up in the last month. Read on to see what else has been trending and where you might be able to get featured in the media in the coming weeks.

Sign up for the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service to start receiving requests from the UK media straight to your inbox.

Features and content often have to be finished months in advance and writers have therefore been gathering information on the return to school in September already. That’s meant an 8% rise for the Education & Human Resources category from last month. ‘School’ appeared in just under 3% of all the requests on the Journalist Enquiry Service in July with just over 1% of those being about ‘Back to school’.

Journalists from PA Media, The Times, MailOnline, Pick Me Up! and Bella all submitted enquiries with this keyword last month. This is likely to remain a trend throughout August so it still means there are opportunities to get products and information featured.

‘Summer’ remains the hot topic on the Journalist Enquiry Service with just under 5% of all requests in July containing the keyword. There were a variety of enquiries too with journalists looking for summer DIY tips, summer workouts and gadgets and summer beauty. Obviously summer travel advice and days out/activities to do with the kids have also been regular requests, too.

The Travel category is up by 16% compared to this time last year, with ‘holiday’ appearing as a keyword in just under 4% of all enquiries last month. If you have any clients that are travel experts or can provide advice then you could get coverage on titles such as The Guardian, The Sun Online, The i paper, Country & Town House and Closer. Journalists from all of these outlets sent requests in July.

Despite the poor weather in July, tips and advice around gardening has remained popular on the Journalist Enquiry Service. ‘Garden’ cropped up in just over 3% of all the requests for last month, making it three consecutive months that this keyword has appeared in the top three keywords. Requests included ‘How to paint a garden shed’, ‘Experts needed on roof gardens/office gardens’ and ‘The best cordless lawn mowers for large gardens’.

A new word on the keyword list, and one that will only grow in popularity over the next few months, is ‘Christmas’. Around 2.5% of all requests in July were for Christmas related content. A lot of feature writers for magazines will have to file copy months in advance and Christmas in July is a common occurrence.

However, it seems to be even more popular this year with the amount of requests containing the keyword ‘Christmas’ up 35% compared to this time last year. Journalists from the Independent, Woman’s Weekly, BBC Good Food, Good Housekeeping and HomeStyle were all looking for Christmas-related content or gift guides last month. If you have any clients with products to review or information about the festive season, then there are bound to be plenty of opportunities to get them out in the media via the Journalist Enquiry Service.

More topical issues last month also meant they appeared as keywords. The on-going issues in the housing market meant that the word ‘mortgage’ was in just over 1% of all enquiries in July with ‘inflation’ popping up in just under 1%. The Construction & Property category is up 24% compared to this time last year as a result. There were also a few enquiries in this category around ‘Barbie’ inspired room makeovers, as the film was finally released. ‘Barbie’ cropped up in 1% of all enquiries as a keyword. Plus there was the heatwave across Europe meaning a lot of journalists were sending out ‘weather’ related enquiries, making that a keyword at just under 1%. Journalists in general are covering climate change and issues more as well, with the Environment & Nature category up by 12% compared to July 2022.

57% of the journalists using the Journalist Enquiry Service last month were staff journalists, up by 5% from June’s figures. 28% were freelance journalists. Consumer media were the largest media type at 36%, with national newspaper/current affairs second on 27% and trade/business/professional media in third on 21%. The journalists were mainly looking for a spokesperson or expert (37%) followed by information for an article (27%) and review products (15%). Seven of the top ten outlets were national press with two consumer titles and one trade.

August is likely to see the keyword ‘school’ perform strongly again and ‘Christmas’ will continue to gather momentum on the service. There is likely to be a decline for ‘summer’ as a keyword but ‘Autumn’ could be a new one, along with ‘Halloween’. Both the Food & Drink and Arts & Entertainment categories should see a boost in requests with events like Notting Hill Carnival and Reading Festival and days like National Prosecco Day (13 August) and National Rum Day (17 August). Therefore: plenty of opportunities with different angles and topics for the coming month.

Want to help UK journalists with their features, interviews, and news? Check out ‘How to connect with journalists in 2023‘, featuring advice from our Vuelio webinar with Wadds Inc. founder Stephen Waddington, ‘From pitch to published – A guide to media relations in 2023’. 

Getting to know you - how to build your brand personality

Getting to know you: How to build a brand personality

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Brand personality – isn’t that just the realm of the marketing team?

Successful communications strategy means creating campaigns that resonate, build reliability, and even likeability – and that’s the role of PR.

A strong brand personality can really help with the day-to-day – after all, how will your messaging land if you don’t really know your brand, and yourself, you know?

But before booking in couples counselling for you and your brand, here is expertise from PRs pros who know how to pack personality into every campaign…

Brainstorm: What is your brand – and your team – all about?

Before you start building a brand personality, you’ll need to figure out what the brand you’re working on actually IS. What does the company stand for, what is it for, what is it offering to your audience? The team behind the brand is worth considering – after all, everyone is on the team for a reason:

‘A great starting point is to get the team of internal stakeholders together and brainstorm who they are and what they stand for,’ advises Pace Communications client director Caroline Anson. ‘The team behind the business needs to breathe the values and persona of the business, so it helps if they are integral to creating them.

‘Ask questions about why they do what they do, how they are different from everyone else, what style is their output, etc. – this will soon start to create a picture of personality type.’

Learn from the best: which brand personalities draw you in?

‘Once you’ve got some thoughts about yourself on paper, it’s time to look outward,’ says Malineo Makamane, digital PR specialist at Sweet Digital.

Figuring out what you and your team like about established brands is another way to uncover aspects of your own brand’s core traits:

‘Study those you admire and write down their defining characteristics,’ adds Malineo. ‘Reverse-engineer the things that make these brands special, and figure out how to put your own personal twist on it.’

Know thyself: If your brand was a person, who would they be?

Considering a company’s traits alone can lead to something cold and robotic. Choosing human traits is how you get to an engaging personality (and, in turn, engage your team or clients in the journey, too).

For Nicholine Hayward, brand strategy director at Teamspirit, clients must be involved in the workshopping process from the start:

‘Take them through a series of exercises to uncover the ‘human’ attributes of their brand, for example, projective exercises – if the brand was a famous sportsperson, a figure from history, a politician, etc. Which causes would they champion? What would they be like to work with? How would they deal with success or failure? It’s also looking at the archetypes – which of the 12 do they feel best reflects their brand and why?’

The basics: ‘Which three words describe you?’

Still not sure where to start? Begin with adjectives. Think of the age-old interview or first date question – which words would you use to describe yourself, or in this case, the brand?

‘Ask your team (or even the wider business) to choose adjectives they associate with your company’s public face – for example, at DivideBuy we are “authentic” and “empathetic’,” says senior content and PR manager Heather Wilkinson.

‘This will give you a strong foundation on which you can build your comms personality.’

If you’re working with a client that doesn’t know what their brand story is yet, dig deep and listen, says Mia Hodgkinson, head of consumer PR at Sway PR:

‘Our role as PR professionals is to dig deep into their story and find those nuggets of information that are PR gold dust.

‘This could be anything from the reason for the company’s inception, the stories of the people behind it, the processes they use or even just their vision.

‘Active listening is essential. This means focusing on what the client is saying and also not saying in order to understand what they are hoping to achieve as a brand. It’s amazing how many clients don’t realise their PR potential until they start talking to an agency. Once a client has established their brand identity they can engage better with their audience, attract new audiences and we can get the best level of media coverage for them.’

What definitely isn’t part of the brand’s personality?

‘The most successful brand personalities are rooted in the business culture. You can’t pretend to be something you aren’t,’ says Susannah Morgan, deputy MD at Energy PR.

‘Getting your culture clear and codified is important. Then you can define what that looks like in terms of behaviour – what you do and don’t do, what you do and don’t say. Your personality should become clear from that process.

The ideal: Who do you want to engage with your brand?

Once you know your brand’s core values, it’s time to figure out who your ideal audience is.

For Brand Building Co., this makes for a much deeper connection and loyalty long-term:

‘The goal here is to connect with consumers in a deeper way, give them access to a more memorable and brand values-driven story that differentiates a brand from their competitors,’ explains founder and director Rachel Humphrey.

‘Look at the brand’s target customer or customer profile, if there is one. If they haven’t defined this yet, then we work with our clients to refine it through workshops and strategy sessions. We then get under the skin of this customer, looking at the psychographic piece. This is looking at what the customer consumes, from media to other brands, their stage of life, their general lifestyle. Once this area is clearer, we then look to produce PR plans that will align and meet this customer – through relevant copy, the target media we work with and the themes and angles we integrate into our plans.

‘We also align this vision with the business goals. To really tighten the strategy to ensure it is meeting the brands goals commercially too’.

Understand your audience: Will they actually like this personality?

Compatibility is as important in consumer and brand relationships as it is in human relationships.

‘It sounds simple, but understanding who a company wants to speak to and how they want to be perceived by those people, is critical,’ says Laura Price, partner at Pagefield.

‘Companies should research and understand their target audience’s demographics, psychographics, preferences, and needs. This knowledge will help shape the brand personality to resonate with the audience effectively.’

If your audience really, really like you, they’ll be with you for the long-haul:

‘Work out who your audience is, what they would react positively to and how your brand personality can resonate with them and turn them into brand advocates,’ says Fizzbox’s head of marketing Tom Bourlet.

Finding your voice: What is the right tone?

‘Having established audiences and values, companies should think about brand archetypes – based on common human characteristics – which will help define the brand’s character and personality,’ believes Pagefield’s Laura Price.

‘This will then help shape the tone of voice, the style of public content and the way in which the company is talked about.’

Authenticity is key, here – forcing a ‘fun’ personality on a decidedly unfun service or company, for example, isn’t going to cut it:

‘A brand cannot just bootstrap itself personality overnight, it will come off as inauthentic, and audiences are just too smart and too savvy not to notice,’ advises Rosser Jones, head of PR at Unlimit.

‘When a company is searching for a tone of voice and looking to inject some personality into its communications, it needs to ask itself important questions, like: Who are we? What are our values? Do we have a unique perspective? What do we want to be, and to whom do we want to matter? The search for a company’s personality starts with some introspection.’

Be bold… but just how bold should you be?

Going viral with a ballsy brand personality might be tempting. Being bold with responses on social media to the public, and even calling other brands out, has worked for Wendy’s, Lidl, and Tesco Mobile, for example. But hold back before you build in too much sass…

‘It’s no surprise that in today’s competitive marketplace, brands are looking to stand out from the crowd,’ says Sophie Baillie, associate director, head of client services at Conscious Communications.

‘But, reward doesn’t come without risk and brand should always be memorable for the right reason.

‘Being bold can undoubtedly generate buzz but there is something equally admirable when brands exercise caution and reliability. Not all brands should be disrupters. It’s the brands that strike a balance between bold campaigns and vigilance that will stand the test of time, who will continue to effectively engage with their target audiences while avoiding alienation and reputational risk. Through careful evaluation of the market and of the potential impact of marketing decisions, brands can navigate the fine line between risk and reward to achieve long-term success.’

Considered Content founder Jason Ball adds: ‘Trying to make a conservative accountancy practice into the life-and-soul of the party when it’s not will never work. On the flip side, if the firm is that extroverted in the real world, this could be a major source of differentiation’.

Assemble your assets: What does your team need?

A team of one with a clear idea of what a brand’s core traits are can create comms across all platforms, all in-line with the personality. A team with multiple people is going to find it harder (despite the greater resource) if there are no shared guidelines.

Tank’s head of PR Martyn Gettings advises getting assets – from tone of voice guides, to image banks, even glossaries – assembled early on:

‘Our PR team takes the brand identity and refines the key messages we want to resonate across all of our comms. Creating these messaging documents in workshop-style sessions also helps to engage key decision makers with the PR process and ensure everyone is on the same page before we start speaking to journalists and other external audiences.’

Keep consistent: Do your comms back up your brand identity?

Brands can – and should – evolve with the changing times – people change, and so should brand personalities. But change things up too much, too quickly, and you risk losing consumers who have previously been devoted to you.

‘Communication and personality needs to be consistent, from web content to social posts and emails out, so everyone in the company needs to be in-tune with each other and the brand communication methods,’ says Tom Bourlet at Fizzbox.

Rebellion Marketing founder Jade Arnell agrees: ‘Consistency is key, so ensure your personality shines through in all communication channels. From marketing materials to customer interactions, let your brand’s personality take the spotlight. And remember, as your company evolves, keep refining and adapting your personality to stay relevant and captivating.’

Keeping in touch: Are you giving your audience enough attention?

Making a strong first impression and then disappearing isn’t going to do your brand any favours. Back up your personality by communicating across channels, regularly, says Impression’s head of digital PR Damian Summers:

‘Creating a rounded brand personality requires multiple channels all working in tandem to communicate the same themes and messaging. From a PR point-of-view specifically, it’s important that there’s consistency across all comms and messaging.

‘PR and comms teams should ensure they have a dedicated spokesperson, someone that can build authority, expertise and trust among customers, and the industry.

‘An authentic brand personality through PR is formed over time and comes naturally through consistency and expertise.’

Sign up for the upcoming Vuelio white paper ‘Stand out from the crowd: A guide to personality-packed PR’ for more on brand personality, and watch our webinar ‘How to build a reliable reputation in the press’ for original research from Vuelio Insights.

Brand reputation in the media

How reliable is your brand? Here’s how to boost your reputation in the press

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News travels fast – particularly quickly if it’s bad news. And in today’s 24/7 news cycle, the reliability of your brand is at a greater risk than ever.

To protect – and grow – your brand, here is how to build a trustworthy reputation in the press, with tips from our latest webinar led by Vuelio’s Insights Content Lead Hollie Parry.

What does it mean to be a ‘reliable’ brand?

Before getting into specifics, what exactly do we mean by ‘reliable’ when it comes to media reporting on your brand? For positive representations and write-ups in the press, we’re focusing on two aspects:
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Firstly, that your brand has a trustworthy voice. With this, journalists will want to talk to you and your spokespeople more than your competitors. When trending or controversial topics that run the risk of misinformation arise in the news cycle – like climate change, or crypto – the media will know your voice is one they can rely on.
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Secondly, that your communications and company updates are seen as both legitimate and impactful – therefore, more likely to be picked up by the press.​
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Over the past year, Vuelio has conducted several in-depth research studies on sustainability, finding that brands that are deemed more reliable are more likely to attain coverage in the media, and, ultimately, greater awareness.

Building your brand’s reputation not a priority? According to our research, this creates a higher risk of false claims and future crisis.

Let’s look at which brands are getting it right on reliability…

Case study: who is getting reliable reporting in the press, and how?

We conducted a six-month study into national press coverage of pharmaceutical brands and their sustainability efforts following last November’s COP27 to find out. The eight brands we studied were the most-mentioned throughout the study period: Pflizer, Takeda, Roche, Bayer, Merck Group, GSK, Samsung Biologics, and Astra Zeneca.

Positive share of voice graph

The stronger the diversity of sustainability praise throughout the year for the brand – the higher the volume of coverage in the press. Astra Zeneca and GSK had the most write-ups and the most sustainability recognition from the media.. ​
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In contrast are Bayer and Pfizer. Despite being ranked as highly sustainable around the time of COP27, other brands fared better due to proactive and regular releases of around their sustainability efforts.

The lesson: investing in trust for your brand throughout the year, even when it doesn’t seem necessary, always pays off in the long-term. ​

How can brands measure their reliability in the press?

Regular releases of initiatives (with backing by an accreditation, where possible) is an investment that pays off in brand reliability. Now it’s time to prove this success:

Choose a specific topic to track

Gather coverage of a specific topic that would be valuable to have a trusted voice on. If your brand is in tech, you could lead the discussion around artificial intelligence. For an education charity, commentary on new policies are likely to be snapped up by reporters in need of expert comment.

Focus on quality over quantity

Key messages: What messages keep coming up about you versus your competitors, and how does this tie back to your trust as a brand?

Target publications: Is your reputation growing in the right places? Are you being trusted by sources of value to you? It’s no good having high reliability in an outlet unrelated to your audience and brand.
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Article features: Where are you being heard and how widely is your reliability demonstrated versus your competitors? For example, do you have a few quotes, where your competitor has extended studies or statements featured?
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Accreditation recognition: How often have your efforts been mentioned? Analyse broader coverage about your chosen topic as a whole and exclude articles where the main focus is your effort itself – you’re looking for examples of your reliability being organically boosted within a wider discussion.​
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Vuelio impact score: For bespoke measurement built to your brand’s objectives, Vuelio’s impact score can serve as a marker of reliability. Create a score based on what you define as your reliability metrics, this could be getting key messages in a set of target publications for specific audiences, for example. You can also apply this to competitors and build a share of impact score.

7 quick tips for boosting your reputation in the media to take away

  1. Assess and refine which areas of discussion are most important to your brand reliability​
  2.  Consider how much you can invest over time​
  3. Choose a consistent set of general and reliability metrics​
  4. Diversify your efforts ​
  5. Utilise partnerships ​
  6. Consider hiring around areas of struggle ​
  7. Research your target audience(s)

Find out more about Vuelio Insights and how to start measuring your own successes in the press here.

Social media on Vuelio

Which social media platform is right for your next PR campaign?

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The ability to get PR clients or your company featured in national newspapers and major magazines is as important today as it’s ever been, but it’s also crucial to evolve your strategy for ‘new’ media. Securing coverage across social media is an increasingly valuable alternative for engaging new audiences and amplifying your brand among different stakeholders.

But how do you go about engaging with Instagrammers and podcast producers? Fortunately on the Vuelio Media Database, you can filter contacts by media type, and find bloggers, vloggers, podcasters, Instagram and TikTok influencers and Facebook Groups, too. Read on for which platform you should reach out to for your next campaign.

Instagram and TikTok

The rise of these two social media platforms has been meteoric, especially TikTok. This has largely been helped by the young audience that are engaging with it on a daily basis. The recent Reuters Digital News Report highlighted the impact of TikTok; the social network now reaches 44% of 18-24s across markets, with 20% for news. Furthermore, audiences are paying attention more to celebrities and influencers on these networks when it comes to news.

If you want to target a younger audience, then TikTok and Instagram should be top of your list. Content creators on these platforms are generally more consumer-focused. 24% of the Instagram influencers listed on the database are interested in covering lifestyle or fashion, and over 28% of TikTok creators are wanting to cover those same two topics. Other topics like travel and food are also well represented on the database.

Creators will often be open to brand partnerships and products to review and promote. Many of them will have thousands, if not millions, of followers, meaning a wide reach for you or your PR client.

Blogs and Vlogs

Blogs and bloggers are much more established in the media landscape than influencers on Instagram and TikTok. Vuelio has had bloggers on the database since 2008. Around a year later, the top ten blogs series was started, highlighting the best performing blogs for different categories, such as travel, beauty and interior design. There are now thousands of bloggers listed, offering lots of avenues to get experts and information featured.

Vlogging feels like a much newer concept but has essentially been around since YouTube began back in 2005. Again, like Instagram and TikTok, it generally attracts a younger audience. However, vlogs will tend to be longer than Instagram and TikTok content and some of the more established vloggers have built up loyal and large followings, with the likes of Zoella being in the millions. This presents the opportunity to connect with a different type of audience. Those listed on the database are more consumer-focused with lifestyle, fashion and beauty vloggers all well represented and keen to engage with PRs.

Podcasts

The popularity of podcasts has been on the rise for a number of years now and reports suggest it could be a $4 billion industry by 2024. This is hardly surprising when the worldwide listenership is said to be over 460 million, equating to around 22% of all internet users. With the amount of listeners said to rise still further over the next couple of years, it’s a good time to be exploring this platform and engaging with podcasters.

On the Vuelio Media Database, there are a real mix of topics covered by the podcasts listed. Football is the most popular, with 4% of all podcasts covering that topic, but news & current affairs and politics are close behind. With a lot of podcasts opting for the interview format, this offers opportunities to get experts featured. An alternative could be product placement, with many podcasters making space for adverts and sponsors within their episodes or across a series.

Facebook Groups

Social media giant Meta is perhaps not quite at the heights it was back in the late noughties/early 2010s, especially with the younger generation. However, it still has nearly 3 billion monthly active users and 66% of the entire UK population are Facebook users. Facebook groups were launched back in 2010 but since 2017, Mark Zuckerberg has really pushed for these to be a way to start a community, and gave group admins new tools such as insights and membership questions to help.

This has worked quite well, and many people now get local and community news via established Facebook groups. Over 27% of the Facebook groups on the Vuelio Media Database are covering community news, with 12% for regional general interest and 9% for local news. If you are working on a hyperlocal campaign or have information that would really interest people in a particular community or area then getting in touch with group owners and admins can be a useful route. Some of these groups will have hundreds or possibly thousands of members with the opportunity to hit a targeted audience.

Want to start reaching out to these contacts and engaging with a different audience? Find out more about the Vuelio Media Database here.

media outreach isn't what it used to be

How to connect with journalists in 2023

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If you worked in PR back in the 80s and 90s, you might still have nightmares about press clippings, heavy directories filled with often out-of-date journalist contacts, and networking in sticky or smokey (and sometimes both) pubs. Thankfully, times have moved on, and so has the PR-journalist relationship.

For our latest webinar, ‘From pitch to published – A guide to media relations in 2023’, founder and managing partner of Wadds Inc. Stephen Waddington shared up-to-date approaches for connecting with the media now. Here’s what all PR and comms people need to know.

Watch the full webinar here, and download the accompanying white paper ‘From pitching to getting published: A PR’s guide to media relations in 2023’.

The basics of building media relationships

Get to know the media before you get in touch

‘The fundamentals of media relations have never changed throughout my career and getting to know journalists and broadcasters is as important as ever. Get to know their beats, their publications, and their interests.

‘When I started my career, we had to read the national newspapers every morning and listen to radio news. Research was all part of the role, and we’d do well to remember that now.

‘With LinkedIn and Twitter, it’s easier than ever to understand what journalists are writing about. We have no excuses.’

Remember that journalists are people and not content machines

‘The relationship between a journalist and a PR practitioner should be equitable. It’s a common view that there’s been an erosion of equality since the height of COVID-19 because of the lack of face-to-face meetings. That can be true. But a personal approach – understanding their professional and personal sphere (which you can, thanks to social networks) – goes a long way to creating a relationship.

‘Recognise birthdays, recognise anniversaries, comment on articles that journalists write. It surprises me how few PRs ever thank a journalist, or even share their copy after it’s been produced. We all have our own social media channels and we can do that.’

Exchange value

‘Newsrooms have always been driven by deadlines, but nowadays metrics are an important feature and all journalists have KPIs to hit. Understanding that and how your content can help them hit those metrics can provide you with an additional opportunity to appeal to a journalist’s interest.

‘Provide a package of material that will provide longevity as assets on that media outlet’s website – give them more than a press release.’

Be honest

‘It’s important that you support journalists to hit their deadlines; don’t waste their time. Be straight-forward, be honest, and be candid in dealing with these relationships.’

The impact of working from home on pitching

Be creative with your storytelling

‘It’s harder than ever to do a call around and get hold of journalists. Instead, we use Twitter DMs and online platforms to establish relationships. A journalist’s phone number is a ‘second level’ of the relationship now. This puts an extra pressure on PRs – you have to be creative with your pitching.’

Get social on social media

‘Us PRs are going through a weird relationship phase with Twitter because of all the change happening. The media still uses it and so do PRs. It’s a really useful way to spot opportunities when journalists are calling out for sources and for material.’

Change with the new working cycle

‘Working from home changed newsrooms – it’s less collaborative. The notion that there was a fixed cycle to the way a newsroom works – sending pitches before morning conferences – has changed. The morning conference is still there as a medium to discuss the news agenda, but there are opportunities throughout the day – we can newsjack an emerging news story.’

The role of technology in managing relationships

Use social media as a listening tool

‘Twitter and Linkedin are great ways to keep track of a journalist’s work. When I started in PR, I used a rolodex, and I encourage anyone working in media relations practice these days to use your social network in the same way.’

Dip into databases

‘Databases like Vuelio provide a way to sift through a media list. Reach deeper into those to build relationships.

‘There’s been a shift to using CRMs and media databases to build and track relationships you have as a team – particularly in large organisations and in Public Affairs. A single point of truth for a team when pitching helps you understand who has pitched a journalist and how it landed.’

Manage your messages

‘There are a range of platforms for connecting with the media – I’m going to call out the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service, but there are also hashtags on social media where journalists are asking for contacts and case studies.’

The changing value of face-to-face meetings and press events

‘In-person meetings are viewed as premium opportunities now. It’s going to be really challenging to get a journalist out to come and meet you. There has to be significant public interest or a level of complexity, you have to offer something additional.’

Tools and techniques

Think like a journalist

‘You have to think like a journalist in the modern public relations environment. Immerse yourself in the news and take a genuine interest, in real time. Understand what they need in order to write a story. We’re all under pressure in a commercial environment – help journalists meet their objectives.’

Pitch to your audience

‘Journalists are an intermediary between you and the audience you want to reach, so if you take an audience perspective when pitching, that’s going to put you in good stead.’

Be human

‘When interviewed for our white paper, advice from 10 Yetis’ Andy Barr was simple – don’t push a dead story, do your research before pitching, and don’t be creepy in your pitching. In other words: “Don’t be a dick”.’

For more, download the white paper ‘From pitching to getting published: A PR’s guide to media relations in 2023’.

Going beyond the publishing paywall

Going beyond the publishing paywall

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Publishing isn’t the money maker it used to be. With a huge amount of content constantly shared across channels, everyone from freelancers to international powerhouse publishers have to find new ways to make publishing pay.

For those making a living in the modern media industry, this means trialling different formats to keep audiences interested, launching new revenue streams, and gating content behind paywalls. For those in the PR and comms industry, all this change – ‘out of all recognition is an understatement,’ says journalist and author Tanith Carey – comes with the need to keep informed on how they can help.

Let’s go behind the publishing paywall to find out what’s paying off in revenue and engagement…

Download our white paper ‘How to pitch to journalists‘ for how to help out journalists with relevant interview subjects, event details and more, divided by sector and niche.

News-avoiders need to be enticed back

News avoidance is on the up in the UK as people turn away from negativity and, instead, self-soothe with streaming and scrolling. This has huge ramifications for news publishers.

Journalism innovation and inclusion consultant Shirish Kulkarni believes the news exists to make sense of what’s going on in the world and that the news model needs to realign to sense making. As an example of this, Tortoise Media has taken a ‘slow news’ approach with its publishing. Its Sensemaker newsletter and ThinkIn sessions enable audiences to fully engage with the stories that actually matter to them, providing both value and clarity on current events.

The numbers have to be right

As shared by Times Media’s director of subscriber retention Abdullah Ahmed at Journalism.co.uk’s Newsrewired event, the cost of acquiring a subscriber can be three to four times more than keeping a current one. This invites a crucial question: how do you retain readers during times of economic strain?

The Washington Post’s head of consumer product marketing and subscription Anna Lorch believes that with so much free content available, people are only willing to shell out for something genuinely relevant to them. Publishers are increasingly using data analytics to inform their retention strategies and create more relevant content.

Going local can pay off

Trust in the media is down in the UK, but local news fairs a lot better – providing it’s actually rooted in the community it serves. According to Public Interest News Foundation founder Jonathan Heawood, locally-owned media gets a net positive trust score. These publishers bridge the disconnect that can happen when news is filtered down from larger umbrella organisations – a great example of this are Social Spider’s community newspapers.

The audience wants their say

Find vox pops a bit cringe? Bad news: they’re still relevant. According to deputy head of newsgathering at Sky News, Sarah Whitehead, vox pops are much more than just another way to inform viewers. In recent years, Sky News has opened up its content to the audience with regular Q&As, bringing them back into the story (and encouraging shares on social when the segment has aired, naturally).

Social media is the new testing ground for journalists

Building up a following doesn’t happen overnight, but a dedicated readership can be a shortcut to commissions and clicks for individual journalists with bills to pay.

‘Coasting’ author Elise Downing mentioned social media as the place for journalists to try new things during a June Journo Resources webinar. The Reels on Instagram getting the most views, the videos driving the majority of traffic on YouTube, the Facebook posts generating the most content – all are a conduit to an audience, and with an audience, hopefully, come commissions.

Stories will always be an endless font

As consumers have increasingly moved from print to screens, publishing has drastically changed. Journalist and author Julie Cook, who started her career at South West News 24 years ago, remembers the ‘heady’ times that were publishing in the 90s, when ‘there was lots of money around, lots of promotions. It was really exciting’.

‘That’s all changed now,’ Julie says. ‘Magazines are selling fewer copies and the pay has not increased in years. It’s harder to sell stories now – but can still be done if you’re canny.

‘It may be a very uncertain time, but in true life, health and tabloid writing, there is one thing that will NEVER run out – that’s people’s stories.

‘They are an endless font.’

People still want stories – to tell them, read them, watch them, engage with them. As long as there’s an audience out there, the creative industries – journalists and PRs included – will be able to find them. Providing that what they’re creating is worth checking out.

Now you know what’s happening behind the publishing paywall, get in touch with relevant media with tips in our latest white paper with Wadds Inc.’s Stephen Waddington ‘From pitching to getting published: A PR’s guide to media relations in 2023’.

Trends in UK journalism Summer 2023

Trends in UK journalism: What are the media writing about this summer?

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We are now just over half way through the year (where did the time go?) and entering a summer of sport. The Ashes, Wimbledon, Women’s football World Cup and the on-going Formula 1 season are all taking place over the next few weeks and months, leaving sports fans spoiled for choice.

It also provides plenty of opportunities for PRs in this sector to get featured in the media as journalists ready to cover these major sporting events. However, there are still plenty of other trending keywords and topics, and journalists have been using the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service to get what they need. Here is what the UK media have been requesting over the last month.

Sign up for the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service to start receiving requests from the UK media straight to your inbox.

With so many different sporting events going on, it’s unsurprising that the Sport category saw the biggest growth between May and June. It increased by just under 20%, with journalists from the Sun on Sunday, City AM, Living360 and Bindy Street all looking to get information on the upcoming events.

Two of the top keywords for June were also associated with the Sport category as both ‘fitness’ and ‘diet’ appeared in 2% of the total requests last month. The enquiries for fitness were mostly looking for experts, as well as some opportunities to feature products. Journalists from Women’s Health, Tom’s Guide, The Telegraph, The Daily Express and Stylist all submitted requests to PR users of the Journalist Enquiry Service. ‘Diet’-related requests were a mix of expert opinion and case studies asks, coming from the MailOnline, GoodtoKnow, best and Hello! Online.

The top performing keyword last month was ‘summer’ as it appeared in over 7% of the total requests in June. This spanned across many of the categories on the Journalist Enquiry Service with requests such as ‘things to do in London this summer with the kids’, ‘affordable summer beauty products’ and ‘summer cocktail and mocktail recipes’. The majority of the enquiries were from national papers and consumer media including The Evening Standard, The Sun Online, Pick Me Up, Sheerluxe and The English Home.

A lot of the consumer-related categories saw a boost as a result, with Women’s Interest & Beauty up by 11%, Leisure & Hobbies increasing by 6% and Home & Garden rising 4% compared to May.

The category which saw the second highest increase in requests was for Children & Teenagers, which jumped up by 19%. There were a variety of enquiries here with some looking for gifts for teachers, others wanting to know about back to school uniform and products, plus what to do with kids over the school summer holidays. The Education & Human Resources category also saw a boost as a result too, rising by 18%, with several requests wanting academic experts to talk on digital literacy, the state of secondary education and teacher shortages. All providing a great opportunity to get any parenting and education experts or information featured in the press.

As mentioned, the school holidays are nearly upon us and ‘holiday’ has performed well again as a keyword, appearing in 2.5% of all requests. This is slightly down on May’s figure but still helped the Travel category to increase by 10%. Last month also saw the first of the big music festivals this summer with Glastonbury. ‘Festival’ has appeared as a new keyword and was included in just over 2% of the total requests in June. The Daily Mirror, BBC News, Fabulous, The Independent and PA Media all made enquiries including one or both of these keywords, presenting more chances to get clients featured in some of the biggest publications and broadcasters.

Away from the excitement of the summer and festivals and holidays, the cost-of-living crisis continues to rumble on. Both ‘cost of living’ and ‘mortgages’ had 1% of the total requests last month as interest rates increased. June was also Pride month, with London Pride taking place last weekend. ‘Pride’ and ‘LGBTQ’ combined had 1% of the requests on the service.

Overall in June, 52% of journalists using the service were staff with 31% being freelance journalists. 37% of those were from consumer media, followed by national newspaper/current affairs on 26% and trade/business/professional media on 20%. The majority were looking for a spokesperson or expert (37%) with information for an article second (25%) and review products in third (16%). Eight of the top ten outlets for June were national press.

The month ahead should continue to be a strong one for keywords such as ‘summer’, ‘holiday’ and ‘festival’, despite the weather. This in turn means the consumer categories should continue to perform well. We should also start to see our first flurry of Christmas related requests as feature journalists start compiling information on what products and themes will be popular come December. There is also International French Fry Day (13th July) and National Junk Food Day (21st July), so the Food & Drink category should see a boost, too.

For more on connecting with journalists, here are 6 reasons to stop searching #JournoRequest and start using the Journalist Enquiry Service as well as what journalists want from PRs and how Vuelio can help. 

Will AI replace PR pros?

Can AI Replace PR Pros? The Writing Prowess of Artificial Intelligence versus Human Creativity

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This is a guest post from Mary Poliakova, PR consultant and co-founder of Drofa Comms.

Mary-Poliakova

Although I’m a professional with more than 15 years in journalism and PR with a corresponding university degree, I never cease to educate myself and improve my professional skills. There is nothing more disheartening than a C-level executive stuck in the past. Thus, I’m currently enrolled in yet another higher education program for business owners. And one of the first lectures I attended as part of this initiative was dedicated to – you guessed it – AI.

Although the concept is as old as advanced tech can go (the 1950s, to be precise), 2023 gave it a new wave of hype. The PR industry is no exception to the trend – professionals ask themselves whether PR professionals should be concerned about recent developments and how creative industries respond to the challenges and moral aspects of generative AI applications. Not to be unfounded, I’d like to add some tangible data to the conversation around AI.

Presenting the Results of the AI Experiment

Recently, the PR and Content teams of my agency conducted an experiment where colleagues from different departments analysed three incognito texts of up to 150 words on the same topic: the role of AI in PR. One commentary was written by a human, a mid-level PR professional, and two were generated by AI. You can read the three texts, the criteria, and the detailed results of the experiment in our blog. But here are the main takes from it.

First, the text written by a human received the highest score. We calculated each short text on a 100-point scale, and the text created by a PR professional got 80 out of 100 points. Two other texts generated by ChatGPT and Notion AI received 76 and 62.4 points, respectively.

Overall, experiment participants noted that AI-generated texts have word-for-word repetitions from a given assignment and wordy sentences. On the other hand, machine-generated texts had a clear structure but lacked smooth, logical transitions from paragraph to paragraph.

As 40% of the correspondents were content writers and editors, all of them agreed that the text written by a human had the highest originality score. They likewise stated that AI-generated texts provided a purely theoretical stand, looking like an explanation to a required task rather than expressing a genuine opinion. However, several participants noted that a text created by a PR professional may have lacked factual argumentation compared to its AI counterparts. So what conclusions can we draw from this experiment?

The Future of AI in PR

The small experiment we’ve conducted leads us to believe that even the most advanced technology cannot exist without a ‘human touch’ to it (at least for now). AI can be of great assistance to the creative industry and PR pos when used cautiously and responsibly. And decent results can only be observed when a human professional knows how to correctly assign tasks to generative AIs. Even then, any written content generated by artificial intelligence must be fact-checked and edited to meet the criteria. After all, AI-generated content is based on the existing one on the Internet. And the risk of plagiarism varies depending on the AI model you use.

Overall, PR professionals should stay tuned for tech developments to test and incorporate effective tools while being cautious about potential changes to regulatory frameworks around artificial intelligence solutions. And executive PR teams must conduct training for managers on how to work with AI tools ethically. I would likewise recommend developing thorough instructions with clearly defined guidelines for using diverse types of advanced solutions in everyday work. The labelling of corporate materials, generated entirely or partially with the help of AI, is also an essential aspect of the ethical utilisation of advanced tools.

After all, I believe AI cannot replace the PR profession, but as it evolves constantly, experienced professionals with the ability to incorporate technologies into everyday work will be in great demand.

For more on how AI could impact public relations, for good or bad, download our white paper with Danebury Research ‘Reputation management: How PR & comms can maintain trust in an AI-assisted future‘ and watch the accompanying webinar ‘The AI Conundrum: Paving the way for the future of comms‘. 

From pitching to getting published: A PR’s guide to media relations in 2023

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Media relations are changing.

 

From new working patterns to commercial pressures in newsrooms, the media industry is transforming and bringing on a challenge for PRs to adapt this new environment.

 

Our report, ‘From pitching to getting published: A PR’s guide to media relations in 2023’ in collaboration Stephen Waddington of Wadds Inc, looks at the evolving landscape of media relations and offers practical guidance for those adapting to the changes.

 

Filled with tips from inhouse and agency professionals from organisations including Propellernet, NHS, Smoking Gun and 10Yetis, our guide gives you everything you need to build long standing working relationships with journalists.

 

Read our guide to learn:

  • If you should ever call a journalist
  • The effects of remote working on the PR – journalist pitching process
  • Whether there’s still value in press events
  • How to use social media for connecting with the media

 

Check it out by filling in the form below.

From Pitch to Published webinar

Vuelio webinar: From pitch to published – a guide to media relations in 2023

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Remote working, emerging technologies and media fragmentation have reshaped media relations completely. 

To help you keep up with all the changes, we’ve teamed up with Wadds Inc. founder and managing partner Stephen Waddington to uncover how PR professionals need to approach media relationships now.

What’s the best way to build relationships with journalists in 2023?

Join us live on 5 July for our webinar ‘From pitch to published – a guide to media relations in 2023’, where Stephen Waddington will share best practice tips for pitching to the media as a PR.

Expertise shared comes from PR and comms professionals working across the industry who are regularly gaining coverage – and building long-lasting working relationships with journalists, broadcasters, and influencers – in the UK press and beyond.

Sign up for the webinar to learn:

  • How remote working has led practitioners to explore more creative ways to connect with the media
  • Whether press conferences and face-to-face meetings can still provide value when the media world is so digitally connected
  • Where inbound tools and social media can help identify PR opportunities and aid in building strong rapports with journalists.

Can’t join us live? Register here and we’ll send you the recording.

For more on Stephen Waddington, check out our Top 10 UK PR Blogs (spoiler: he’s number one).

Want a primer on reaching out to relevant journalists with your story? Take note from our recent explainer ‘PRs on PR: How to pitch to the media‘.

Lessons from the rights and wrongs of health and pharmaceutical communications

Lessons from the rights and wrongs of health and pharmaceutical communications

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There have been plenty of challenges in health and pharmaceutical reporting and communications over the last 30 years, with the last three being particularly tumultuous for those tasked with communicating both complex and constantly evolving news to the public.

At a Vuelio lunch held at the Gherkin last month, Channel 4’s health and social care editor Victoria Macdonald shared the lessons to be learned from the good and bad of her 30-year career covering health and pharma.

Read on for her thoughts on high-profile political flubs you won’t want to replicate, the importance of ensuring any promises made can be met, and just how unhealthy misinformation can be to your audience.

PR teams: prime your spokesperson properly

‘Looking back over the various points in my career and the exciting breakthroughs – the scandals, the pandemics – I would say that Covid was an interesting roller coaster.

‘I was the journalist who asked Boris Johnson if he was still shaking hands. I wasn’t actually trying to catch him out; I was genuinely interested. His reply was so astonishing – “Yes,” he said.

“I am shaking hands,” Johnson added. “Only last night I was in a hospital shaking hands with coronavirus patients.”

‘The chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser went pale as they stood beside him. An hour or so later the Downing Street press office rang to say that of course he hadn’t shaken hands with coronavirus patients.’

Promises must be met

‘My first interaction with the pharmaceutical industry, and whether it was making excessive profits at the sake of people’s lives, was around reputation.

‘I am thinking about a court case in 2001 in which the South African Government won against 39 pharmaceutical companies that had sued because of a provision that would have allowed the production and importation of generic drugs for HIV/Aids. That case was dropped in the end because of national and international pressure.

‘I was there reporting it and it was a momentous day – undermined by the Government actually failing to distribute drugs until they, too, were taken to court.’

Balance celebration with caution

‘There’s news of another Alzheimer drug that can slow cognitive decline by 35%. And the quote was that this could be the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s disease. The thought is so thrilling and anyone in this room who has seen or is living with family members who have Alzheimer’s knows what it’s like to watch it happening in front of your eyes.

‘This may be too late for our mothers or fathers or grandparents – but maybe it will be ok for us – I hope so.

‘Yet this is another one of those announcements where you have to be so utterly cautious when reporting and communicating it. You want it to be a celebration, you absolutely want it to be the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s, but you have to tell your audience that there are many caveats.

‘The last thing you want to do is rain on someone’s parade, but neither do you want a relative ringing up and saying where is this drug, why can’t my Mum have it now?’

Inoculate your audience against misinformation

‘That most wonderful moment nine months into the pandemic when the announcement of the first vaccines was made – we had had so many briefings early on in 2020 that no vaccine was in sight and then suddenly there really was.

‘Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the Astra Zeneca vaccine’s reputation had been battered by a toxic mix of misinformation, miscommunication, and mishaps.

‘Yet there were trial problems – and reporting on these was very difficult because you didn’t want to lose the excitement of such an important development, but had to give as much information as possible.

‘There was a real change in communications during the pandemic. At first, Government press offices were slow to get up and going. But it got better very quickly.’

‘Looking back on Covid – so much changed and yet also so little’.

For more about maintaining trust and communicating complex campaigns clearly in health and pharmaceutical sectors, download the Vuelio white paper ‘Medical misinformation: How PR can stop the spread’.

8 facts you need to know about brand reputation

Don’t be scared, be prepared: Stats on brand reputation you need to know now

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You and your clients have a rep to protect, and crisis can come from many different places. One big source of brand reputation problems? The digital space, where the negatives can spread just as quickly as the positives.

No PR can be omnipotent or always-online, so a reputational crisis will happen at some point. In our webinar ‘The AI Conundrum: paving the way for the future of comms’, Danebury Research founder Paul Stallard shared findings from our collaborative white paper to prove just how prepared PRs need to be.

Watch the webinar here.

Read on for the numbers on accountability, fake news, and how valuable public relations is.

Business leaders are worried about reputation…

– 94% of business decision makers have had to deal with a brand reputation issue
Every business needs to maintain their reputation, and this is a big concern for those at the top of the hierarchy. Causes of potential headaches and sleepless nights for industry decision makers come from both inside and outside of company structures. According to our data, 53% of reputation management cases were due to actions taken by an employee, while 46% came from a customer or external person.

– 67% worry that poorly managed brand reputation issues would seriously damage their company. Half of business decision makers would be unsure how to reduce the impact of a brand reputation issue
Ensuing damage is a concern for over half of polled business leaders across the financial services, utilities, pharma, media, retail, and transport sectors.While the number of decision makers that wouldn’t know how to stop a reputational crisis in its tracks is slightly concerning, business leaders do know who can help them.

…but the majority know that PR is a problem-solver

– 82% agree PR support would be vital to manage a brand reputational issue
Good news – 84% of business leaders proactively use PR to improve their reputation in the media and online, and 79% already have a plan in place to deal with any brand reputation issues.

Appreciation for public relations continues to rise. As we found in our previous white paper with Stephen Waddington and Dr Jon White (‘Elevating the role of public relations in management’), PR people are increasingly part of strategic decision making at the top levels of business.

Fake news and misinformation are a key concern in business now

– 77% believe fake news/misinformation would cause their company reputational damage
As mentioned by Polis Analysis’ Thomas Barton in the Vuelio webinar ’Why PRs need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’, fake news is predicted to be a significant challenge over the next 20 years.

80% of business leaders are already preparing and have taken steps to protect their company against fake news or misinformation. 75% believe fake news/misinformation is already on the rise.

Business leaders want the media to take more responsibility

– 71% think journalists and the media need to do more to validate sources to help prevent fake news/misrepresentation
Fact checking is baked into the journalist’s job, but what about AI content generation at publishing companies like BuzzFeed and Axel Springer?

37% of those on top of the business food chain believe content generators like ChatGPT will worsen the quality of media content, and that 83% of publications should mark when it’s been used to create a story. 37% even believe the technology could kill creativity completely. But is it all bad when it comes to AI?

AI is a source of trepidation for business bosses

– Only 22% of business leaders have personally used it for work-related purposes
AI technologies are still very much in their infancy for content creation – less than a quarter of decision makers have toyed with it so far. Perhaps due to this lack of personal experience of just what these apps can do, numbers show wariness. 37% believe ChatGPT is more of a risk than an asset, while a significant 65% think ChatGPT poses a threat to jobs.

AI is also a source of opportunity for PRs when building reputations

– While 62% of business leaders believe it’s too early for ChatGPT to be used in PR, 45% are actively investigating how it could be used as part of their communications

– 67% of business bosses believe ChatGPT prompting will be as important as SEO – a mainstay of comms – going forward.

On whether it really will take job opportunities away, a scary possibility much media coverage has put forward, not all business leaders agree. 45% believe it will improve productivity for the humans already working for them, and 78% agree the technology will free up time, enabling PRs to be even more creative with their strategies.

Whatever the future holds, anyone working in the field of reputation – whether building it, protecting it, or fixing it – will need to incorporate emerging technologies into their toolkit.

‘I have been in conversations with clients and they’ve asked what our stance is on the use of AI already, and whether we should be using it,’ said Paul.

‘We’re in the early stages in the PR industry so far – we’re excited about it, exploring and investigating it.

‘We need to embrace this as a tool and not be scared. We need to know the strength and weaknesses, so we can advise our clients correctly.’

Watch the full webinar ‘The AI conundrum – paving the way for the future of comms‘ and download the accompanying white paper ‘Reputation management: How PR and comms can maintain trust in an AI-assisted future’ for more on this topic.

8 things you need to know about the use of AI in PR and the media

8 things you need to know about the use of AI in PR and the media

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Will AI ultimately be a help to us in our jobs, or lead to a Skynet-level humans versus artificial intelligence showdown years in the future? We can’t answer that, but we can tell you how technologies like ChatGPT are already impacting public relations, the media, and politics – both for good and, when applied incorrectly, the not-so-good.

Here is what you need to know about the use of AI in PR and journalism now, taken from our latest white paper ‘Reputation management: How PR and comms can maintain trust in an AI-assisted future’ – download it here.

Want more on this topic? Sign up to our webinar with Danebury Research’s Paul Stallard ‘The AI conundrum – paving the way for the future of comms’ to join us on Wednesday 7 June, 11-11.30 BST.

1) A pro: AI is supporting the work of journalists (and helping the bottom line)

‘Over the last few years, we have seen the use of AI increasing because it’s valuable to support the journalists in different areas; in news gathering, in news production, but of course most importantly with the audience and the way in which you can enhance that and raise revenue.’
Charlie Becket, founding director of Polis and leader of the LSE Journalism and AI project

2) A con: AI could hinder the work of journalists to inform when applied incorrectly

‘We have to think about where we can use those tools, and when we shouldn’t. One of the things I want us to do is to demonstrate where our articles are coming from. People are using AI and putting together information without that source to show where that information came from.’
Jo Adetunji, editor at The Conversation

3) PRs need to be ready to fight AI-assisted PR disasters

‘We cannot escape conversations around ChatGPT at the moment – any activist or online troll could use that technology to spread all sorts of content on social media to trash the reputation of a corporation. If you are a bit more sophisticated, you could use deep fakes to impersonate senior figures in business to create a PR disaster. For a listed company, bad actors could move their share price.

‘And I am not making this up. The Eurasia Group has forecast this as a possibility in 2023. PRs must be aware of the reputational challenges posed by actors harnessing tech for malicious ends.’
Thomas Barton, founder and CEO of Polis

4) AI may not revolutionise comms, but it could streamline the way we work

‘Although ChatGPT is expected to continue to revolutionise the way we do PR and marketing, I still believe it won’t lead to smaller teams and massive layoffs.

‘Instead, the tool will further streamline PR processes to help PR professionals become more productive. So, the tool will only get better at proofreading your press release, refining your PR pitch, and helping you come up with ideas for a PR brainstorming session or social media posts. The tool will also get better at ensuring consistency across your PR (and marketing) material.’
Chris Norton, founder of B2B PR agency Prohibition

5) Entry-level jobs in the creative industries could disappear

‘Probably in lots of different sectors it is the ‘bottom rung’ that will be impacted — people who have just started their job.

‘I’m sure it’s the same in PR as in journalism — when you start out, you’re doing the unglamorous jobs. That work could be done better by AI, potentially. The bottom rung could be in a difficult position.’
William Turvill, associate editor for Press Gazette and media correspondent for the New Statesman

6) An increase in AI assistance means a need for more personalisation and authenticity (AKA humans)

‘With the rise of AI-generated content, storytelling will become even more relevant. Increased AI-powered content production will create more content, which will be more general as AI is not incentivised to be bold. This means personalised, unique voices will become more powerful, as it will help companies stand out from the crowd.’
Jan Bohnerth, CEO of Life Size

7) In the absence of regulation, PRs must hold themselves to account

‘Everything’s happening so fast — there needs to be big thoughts about regulation. At a firm level, there’s a lot you can do with making sure you don’t rip people off.’
Helena Pozniak, independent journalist writing for the Telegraph, The Guardian, the Institution of Engineering and Technology as well as various universities and specialist sites

8) Don’t be alarmed, but be realistic about the impact AI will have on you and your work going forward

‘I saw someone tweet that AI is going to kill us all in five years. I’d be so wary of any bold claims like that, because there is so much money behind this stuff, in doom-mongering or overexaggerating.
‘Future prediction is always a murky area — that’s something I would be hugely vary of.’
Amelia Tait, freelance features writer for outlets including The Guardian, New York Times, Wired, the New Statesman, and VICE.

Download the full Vuelio and Danebury Research white paper here.

Check out what you also need to know about the impacts of fake news, shared in our previous webinar with Polis’ Thomas Barton ‘Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’.

How is the media covering the energy sector?

Trends in UK journalism: How is the media covering the energy sector?

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The cost-of-living crisis has impacted many areas of our life, from more expensive food shops to higher interest rates. One of the most dramatic rises in price came in energy bills, where for some businesses and homeowners it nearly doubled.

The media have therefore focused heavily on advising their audiences on how to cope with this as well as expert opinion on when things might improve. But what else have journalists been looking to cover in the energy sector recently? With help from the Journalist Enquiry Service, we are able to shed light on what they have been requesting and identify opportunities for PRs to get coverage.

Sign up to start receiving requests from the UK media direct to your inbox with the Journalist Enquiry Service.

For the purpose of this article, we decided to focus on the two most relevant categories to the energy sector on the Journalist Enquiry Service – Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy and Environment & Nature. In both categories, requests over the last three months have been dominated by staff journalists with 62% in the energy category and 53% in environment. Freelance journalists are the next biggest senders in both categories, with 29% in energy and 25% in environment.

Journalists are generally asking for the same thing across both categories, with ‘information for an article’ and ‘spokesperson or expert’ the top two requests for each one. The slight difference comes in the third most selected enquiry type option – 11% of journalists in the energy category requests were looking for case studies whereas in environment, 13% of requests were for review products.

The main difference between the categories is in the types of journalist that are sending requests in the respective categories. Consumer media journalists are much more prevalent in the environment category with 32% of requests coming from them, followed by trade/business/professional media on 25% and national newspaper/current affairs on 24%. Whereas in the energy category, trade/business/professional media dominates with 52% of requests, with national newspaper/current affairs on 18% and consumer media on just 15%. Radio and television also does well here on 8%.

If you have experts or information from the energy sector that you think you would fit well within a trade publication, there should be lots of opportunities. ReNews, Engineering & Technology, Industrial News, Net Zero Professional, Connected Energy Solutions and Energy Digital have all sent at least one request in the last three months.

We can delve further in and look at what keywords have been cropping up the most. ‘Business’ has featured in the most requests, with 27% of all energy enquiries containing this word. It must be noted that this doesn’t always mean that journalists are looking to write about energy businesses. The same goes for ‘companies’ which also performed well and appeared in 16% of requests.

However, we have seen requests such as ‘Businesses/economists/energy consultants sought for article on business action on energy supplies’ and ‘Looking for expert comment from a water company on whether a bath or shower is more energy efficient.’

‘Energy’ is unsurprisingly another keyword that performs strongly here, appearing in 19% of all requests. This is often followed by the word ‘bills’ which is in 7% of all the energy enquiries.

Journalists from the Express.co.uk, The Sun, ITV News and 5 News have all looked to cover this keyword; sometimes wanting an expert opinion on how to save money on your energy, a few around changes to the energy price cap and its effect on bills and broadcast outlets wanting businesses or people to talk to about the impact rising energy bills has had for them.

Another related phrase in ‘cost-of-living’ continues to crop up, appearing in 4% of the energy requests. The keyword ‘budget’ is also in 4% and ‘efficiency’ is in 6%, as again journalists focus on getting information and experts to talk about what people can do during this ongoing crisis.

Oil, gas and electricity all perform well as keywords, too – both in the energy and environment categories. ‘Gas’ appears in 4% of energy requests and 3% of environment. ‘Electricity’ is in 2% of all energy enquiries and 1% of those in the environment category, while ‘oil’ is in 3% of energy and 2% of environment.
Requests around these keywords have tended to be from trade publications, including one from a journalist at Net Zero Investor who was looking for ‘climate-conscious asset owners and asset managers’ to talk about engaging with oil and gas firms.

The keywords that performed strongly within the energy requests tend to do well again in the environment category with 15% of requests including ‘business’, 10% having ‘energy’ and 4% mentioning the ‘cost-of-living’.

‘Environment’ as a keyword does well within its own category, appearing in 12% of all requests. These come from consumer-based titles such as My Weekly, The Mayfair Musings and woman & home. This includes an enquiry around saving money while saving the environment and living a more sustainable and affordable life.
‘Sustainability/sustainable’ is another keyword which performs well in the environment category, appearing in 10% of all requests. A variety of outlets are looking for sustainability experts, from Retail Week to Country & Town House, to PA Media and The Times. While not always solely focused on the energy and environment side, this provides another opportunity to get clients coverage on an increasingly popular topic to write about.

The other forms of renewable energy sources such as ‘solar’ and ‘wind’ are also keywords with the former in about 2% of environment requests and the latter in 1%. Enquiries here come from trade titles such as New Energy World and consumer outlets like Ideal Home.

While the cost-of-living crisis might seem to dominate the conversation in the media around the energy sector, there are still lots of different avenues to explore. New information and experts are primarily what journalists are looking for, with plenty of opportunities to get clients featured in trade publications, plus some national newspapers and broadcast news, too.

For advice on pitching to the UK media, download our white paper ‘How to pitch to journalists‘, and get requests from writers, broadcasters, influencers and more directly to your inbox with the Journalist Enquiry Service. Want to start your outreach now? Check out the Vuelio Media Database. 

PRs on PR: How to pitch to the media

PRs on PR: How to pitch to the media

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Despite the sheer number of places to pitch to now – online, radio, and broadcast alongside traditional print outlets – pitching to the media as a PR has only gotten tougher as time has gone on.

‘Long gone are the days when an outreach email or pitch sent to a list of hundreds of journalists and news desks would result in instant links or coverage’ says JBH’s digital PR manager Lauren Wilden.

‘We now need to be much more strategic’.

Where better to get advice on successful strategies than the experts: your fellow PRs. Here are the steps to hit through all stages of the pitching journey – preparing, creating, and the post-pitch follow-up – from PRs and comms people regularly racking up coverage for their brands and clients in the UK media.

Want to know how Vuelio can help with your media outreach? Check out extra detail on the Vuelio Media Database and the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service.

Preparing your pitch

Do your research before you even think about getting in touch with a journalist

‘The first and most important thing you need to do is research. Spend time getting to know the publications you want to be seen in and the kinds of things that your target journalists write about.

‘It may sound old school, but buy print copies of the media, where possible, to get an overview of the publication as the context of where you want your story to appear is also important.’
Ceri-Jane Hackling, managing director at Cerub PR

‘All media pitches should be tailored to a specific audience, for example, based on geographic location, audience interests, and industry or sector specialisms. This means identifying a clear, concise and newsworthy angle that will appeal to each audience, and steering clear of industry jargon in non-specialist media.’
Lucy Wharton, Account Manager: PR at V Formation

‘Chat to PR colleagues to gain an insight into the journalist’s preferred way of working, personality and any gems of info that will show you’ve clearly done your homework. (without going too Big Brother!).’
Sheila Manzano, senior associate director at Frog & Wolf PR

‘Staying up-to-date with the latest demographics, audience research, features, news, and staff at a publication puts you ahead of the game, establishing you as a mindful, and reliable source for future opportunities.’
Connor Aiden Fogarty, Social & Influencer Marketing Assistant at DMC PR

‘Journalists are increasingly stretched and therefore don’t have as much time to be able to attend events or even have a quick chat on the phone which makes things tricky for PRs. Knowing the journalist’s background and key topics they write about is so important. Also, finding out how the journalist prefers to receive the pitch (this is usually email) is essential – tools like ResponseSource help with this.’
Jessica McDonnell, senior account manager at Source PR

‘B2B media pitching is fly fishing: the more times you cast/pitch, the more catches/placements you are going to get! But, it’s equally important to understand what isn’t catching – because you might need to change the ‘fly’.

‘The more diverse the audience, the larger the fly box – think vertical and geographical market expansion.

‘But there is one rule that holds true for media pitching: Understand your quarry/audience. Nearly half of journalists receive more than 50 pitches per week, so one of their biggest annoyances is getting spammed with irrelevant pitches. Read what they write and what they engage with on their social channels – and you shall find the perfect fly!’
Judith Ingleton-Beer, CEO at IBA International

Plan your strategy

‘Having a clear pitch strategy for your key contacts will help to naturally develop stronger, hyper-relevant stories and build stronger relationships with journalists. After that, it’s all about making sure you make life as easy as possible for journalists – understanding the best time and way to approach them and getting to the point quickly.’
Martyn Gettings, head of PR at Tank

Start small

‘Try contributing newsjacking comments to smaller sites and niche publishers first. This builds up your legitimacy and means that you have extra ammunition in your pitching arsenal.’
Mike Shields, Head of Digital PR at eComOne

Before you start typing – is what you have relevant and timely?

‘When pitching to journalists, it’s essential that as PRs, we offer them something of high relevance to the current news cycle. Linking the content to trending topics, awareness days, new research, or current affairs will show journalists that your content is timely, relevant and will be interesting to their current readers, heightening chances of success. Before pitching, ask yourself, ‘How newsworthy is this content, and how relevant is it to the current media landscape?’
Leah de Gruchy, senior digital PR executive at Kaizen

Creating a successful pitch

Sending a press release? Tailor your headlines/subject lines to fit

‘Crafting a strong subject line is key to sending a good digital PR pitch. It is the first part of your pitch that journalists are exposed to and could be the deciding factor as to whether they even open your pitch email. Avoid click-bait titles when pitching to journalists, we know they are already very busy people and do not have time to play guessing games.’
Amber Buonsenso, senior digital PR strategist at The Evergreen Agency

‘Adjust the headline to suit the types of style that they would typically write, so that they can envision how the piece would look. For example, Daily Mail often uses CAPITALS in their headlines, so we do exactly that, and for the Reach PLC titles, we try and make the titles slightly more inquisitive to encourage more clickthroughs, as we know their target is page “views, for example, did you know that THIS hack will help you fall asleep’, as oppose to counting sheep bed will help you fall asleep quicker”.’
Emma Hull, PR manager at Balance

‘Every publication has a specific framework for headline writing, so small quirks like knowing if a news outlet writes numbers numerically or alphabetically shows understanding, a passive form of personalisation. I also think writing headlines frames our releases in a journalistic style, helping to picture our pitches as newsworthy stories.’
Charlie Warner digital PR specialist at Seeker Digital

‘Be clear for when they’re scanning their inbox to see if anything jumps out. For me this might look like “Industry comment – Personal finance expert discusses latest Bank of England interest rates” or even “Interview opportunity – Education expert available to discuss GCSE Results Day”.’
Samantha Walker, head of PR at 10 Yetis Public Relations

Test what works best

‘I find a/b testing a different set of subject lines can work with bigger campaigns, and also tweaking the subject line to suit the journalists’ style or the publication they write for. This can be time consuming but a well targeted campaign is always better than a ‘spray and pray approach’ – where you send the same pitch to hundreds of journalists.’
Lauren Richardson, senior account executive at Marketing Signals

Think. About. Layout

‘This is a very laborious and boring sentence to read as it trails on and on without any particular direction and multiple points so it’s difficult to understand what the main argument of the piece is as there is no proper grammatical construction or interesting aspects of what I am saying standing out from the rest of the points in this long excruciating opinion I am writing and as a result I expect you will have fallen asleep by now and so will have any journalist you are pitching.

‘Instead. Pull out your main point. Put it at the start. Use short sentences. And make it easy to digest.’
Chris Cowan, associate director at Mixology PR

‘The feedback we get from journalists is that they want a story that they can essentially cut, copy, paste and publish if they wish – so good pitching starts with great copy.

‘Use straightforward and easy-to-understand language in short sentences in the pitch itself and make sure that the really interesting angles are all included.

‘If you have created a story that is already ready to publish, you are making the journalist’s life easier and your chances of getting your story published are vastly increased.’
Dan Thompson, account director at MOTIVE PR

Cut out unnecessary words (especially the adjectives)

‘Remember that you’re sending a pitch and not a blog stuffed with flowery language. This is especially important in your subject line, where you want the story of the pitch to be clear within 8-12 words. Front loading your subject line with stats can be a really great way to boost the impact of your pitch as well, so always try and include these where possible.

‘Feedback I’ve had is that journalists typically don’t want to read pitches longer than about 400 words as they don’t have time.’
James Lavery, digital PR manager at Bring Digital

Sell your story

‘When pitching to journalists, selling them on a story is key – what gets editors to sit up and pay attention and readers to take the time to click is a story they can engage with.

‘Ask yourself, is there a compelling narrative here? Colouring around the black and white of the article is vital and that’s where we find journalists engage with us the most.’
Connor Kirton, senior PR account executive at Make More Noise

‘“So what” is a good question to ask yourself. Why should this be of interest to the journalist and their audience?’
Rachel Murray, account Director at Fourth Day PR

‘The truth is, journalists don’t care about your press release, they care about their readers. And they have no interest in helping to promote your business to their readers unless you bring value to them. So, focus on the impact your story has on the reader, and see if it triggers one of these reactions:

1. This is me
2. I wish it was me
3. I’m glad it’s not me’
Petra Smith, Founder of marketing and PR agency Squirrels&Bears

‘A journalist will not want to read waffle. A pitch should be like a wine tasting, the journalist should have a small glass, and want to come back to you for the whole bottle’.
Peter Remon, senior account manager at BlueSky Education

Numbers go nicely with words – include some data

‘Use bullet points to bring out the most important facts of the topic you are pitching, and make sure it’s backed up with the latest research – no journalist would want to spend the time researching whether what you are saying is true.’
Dinara Omarova, director at Peach Perfect PR Limited

Sending your pitch

Get in there early and make it speedy

‘If you’re pitching to nationals, then emailing early on in the day really is key in my experience. Most editorial planning meetings happen before 10am, so if you’re pitching after this then the chance of your content getting used (unless its hyper topical) is much lower.

‘Regionals and lifestyle titles can work a little differently, but either way, morning pitching is still typically best as they’re more likely to be planning content then, and then writing it up later on.

‘If you’ve managed to get your pitch email opened, then naturally you want to keep that journalist’s attention and you need show them why it’s a good story super quickly. Long email pitches that fail to explain the story quickly and clearly (and why it’s relevant to that title now), should be avoided! Bullet points with key facts or figures can help with this.’
Cheryl Crossley, head of digital PR at WMG

It may surprise you, but news desks do forward your pitch to the right editor

‘Publications have editors who specialise in specific industries or regions. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to identify the right person to pitch to. While a mass-sent press release with BCC’d email addresses may still generate attention if it’s compelling enough, it lacks the latter’s allure.

‘If I need to figure out who the right person is to contact for my story at a publication, I use a generic email address that’s monitored.

‘With such email addresses. publications always hint that they are monitored to centralise incoming messages to help dispatch them to the right people to avoid missing out on great stories. So, I check to see if a general email like info @, tips @ is being monitored.’
Malineo Makamane, digital PR specialist at Sweet Digital

Remember to add the extras

‘Having good imagery drastically increases your chances of selling in a news story. Better still, if you do have a great image to accompany your press release, then include it in the body of the email! Show journalists that you have visual content readily available.’
Matt Neicho, senior communications executive (STEM) at Definition Agency

‘Include a link to a Dropbox or WeTransfer folder which contains your release, a selection of images to choose from, as well as a contact sheet with your details in case they need anything further.’
Lauren Dall, director at boutique PR consultancy Dall Communications

How to follow-up on your pitch

Engage, don’t badger

‘Don’t send multiple emails about the same story. Once you’ve sent a press release, give it at least 24 hours. Then, a follow up asking a journalist to confirm receipt and explaining you are available if they need anything else is perfectly acceptable. Anything more and you will be deemed a pest.’
Nick Owens, founder of Magnify PR

‘I like to follow up in a timely manner and with a short note that provides a summary of what I’m offering and asking the journalist for any relevant feedback.

‘I also focus on building relationships by actively engaging with their work, sharing articles, and offering valuable insights. It’s important to understand that each journalist is unique, so PRs should continuously adapt their approach based on feedback and the ever-evolving media landscape.’
Katya Beadsworth, account manager at Fleishman UK

‘Three is the magic number – I have learned that to follow up more than three times is plenty enough when you are attempting to secure a story. If your client is particularly keen on the opportunity, it is always one you can revisit in a month or two.’
Sarah Lloyd, founder of IndigoSoulPR

Share your successes

‘When media coverage is secured – if appropriate, share it on social media channels tagging the journalist and publication. After all, we all like a bit of further amplification.

‘A simple thank you doesn’t go amiss either.’
Niki Hutchinson (she/her), founder & managing director at LarkHill PR

Not a winning pitch this time? Keep the channels open

‘If your pitch doesn’t land – don’t give up. Ask the journalists about the kind of stories they would be interested in, go back to the drawing board, and try again with a different angle.’
Barnaby Patchett, managing director at One Nine Nine Agency

‘I think the most important aspect of pitching to journalists is by far being both respectful and pleasant with them. Even if you have a reply saying that your pitch isn’t relevant, keep the channels open by asking for specifics on what they do cover so you can send them relevant topics in the future.

‘This relationship can easily become twofold as well, not only giving you a potential stream of coverage and backlinks for press releases, but also providing the opportunities for journalists and other marketeers to come to you first for comments for their upcoming pieces and projects. It’s a transactional relationship with continual benefits for all parties involved, so build that rapport as well as some links!’
Josh Wilkinson, senior reactive PR executive at The Audit Lab

‘You shouldn’t expect positive results after pitching a journalist once – get into a routine of following up, as this will give you more chance of success.

‘Furthermore, PR professionals should invest time in building relationships with journalists. Adding them to suitable press lists and following and engaging with them on social media are good ways of keeping you on their radar.’
Lee Lodge, International PR Director at Life Size

Be human

‘Journalists are human, they’re people like you and me simply trying to do a good job, one they enjoy and where they feel they’re progressing. Help them. But, also ask how they’re doing. Be kind and be genuine. It’s all about building real relationships and relationships are two-way, they also take work. Don’t just ask for a favour and expect all the time.’
Anna Morrish, director of Quibble

‘Once you are friendly with journalists then a good way to maintain relationships isn’t just to keep pitching stories at them, like it’s a one-way transaction. Ask for their thoughts and opinions on potential stories, make them involved in the process and you’ll find those relationships only grow stronger.’
Simon Boddy, PR consultant at AMBITIOUS PR

Build your network and nurture your relationships

‘Work hard to build your contacts – actively network and invite journalists to lunch and/or coffee. Building media contacts and relationships is invaluable.’
Danielle Hines, account director and head of the Liberty Communications media taskforce

‘COVID has definitely changed the way we communicate and pitch to journalists. Building and nurturing relationships has always been an important part of pitching, but I think it has become increasingly more important as a result of the pandemic.’
Olivia Bence, senior PR manager at Campfire

Be a reliable port of call for journalists

‘Focus on building relationships and make a name for yourself in providing good quality and accurate information, quickly and within deadline.’
Steve Lambert, account director at Freshwater

Remember – all the hard work is worth it

‘Putting the effort and time into your pitches is all made worth it when you get that piece of coverage through that wows your clients or makes your campaign.’
Nick Brown, PR director at Pearl Comms

For all stages of the pitching journey, Vuelio and its sister services can help. Find relevant journalists, broadcasters and influencers via the Vuelio Media Database, receive requests from them directly to you inbox with the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service and track how your coverage is being shared and received with Vuelio Media Monitoring, Vuelio Insights and Pulsar, a social listening platform. 

Vuelio webinar on misinformation

The fight against fake news is not lost: How PRs can combat misinformation and disinformation

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‘I don’t think we’re in a post-truth world yet, but we need to act now to avoid that worst-case scenario,’ believes Polis Analysis CEO and Founder Thomas Barton.

In our webinar ‘Why we need to take online misinformation and disinformation seriously’, Thomas shared the problems we face as a society with fake news, predictions for how it could impact politics, business and health, and the vital role of PR practitioners in the fight for truth.

Watch the full webinar here.

What can PRs do to fight misinformation, disinformation and fake news?

1) Report misinformation whenever you see it

This isn’t about surveillance mindset – this is simply about protecting the health of our public debate and discussion. Just as you would point out incorrect information around the table at the pub, you should feel a responsibility to call out something that could undermine trust online.

This is about proactively taking action to have content taken down when you come across information that’s untrue.

It’s important to remember this isn’t about undermining free speech – it’s about preserving the quality of our free speech. That means any discussion we’re having should be rooted in the facts.

2) If a client mistakenly shares misinformation, speak up quickly

As we know, content spreads fast. False information being shared on social media for a couple of hours is all it takes to have a pernicious effect on misinforming individuals. The best thing a PR professional can do in this situation is to flag that false information has been published, take it down, and then ensure the company or client understands to be more rigorous with its fact-checking before publishing anything.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that we fully understand what we’re publishing and that it’s based on facts when we put content online.

For more on how to handle a PR problem spreading across social media and in the press, check out advice from our previous webinar ‘Should you speak up or shut down in a PR crisis?’.

3) Challenge trusted institutions and authorities when necessary

We all have a responsibility to raise concerns even about a trusted organisation.

This is where legislative solutions are useful. If you’ve got an institution of a certain size, with a certain platform, something like the Online Safety Bill could provide an opportunity to ensure they abide by the same duty of balance as traditional broadcasters.

That combination of a top-down legislative and bottom-up educational approach in media literacy is crucial.

4) Recognise the risks emerging technologies bring

Technology, by definition, is disruptive; it’s always going to be a double-edged sword. Advances in AI are welcome and can bring all sorts of efficiencies to various industries, including PR and journalism. But there are risks involved.

Malicious actors could run misinformation campaigns by using software like ChatGPT to pump out deliberately false information across social channels. Spreading misinformation was an issuebefore AI, but the problem we face now is the increase in proliferation across the online space.

5) Back calls for extra accountability from social media giants

There has been a shift in accountability from social media companies recently, and that’s because they have done little-to-nothing for a long time in this space. Pushes from regulators and political institutions mean these social giants are now taking more ‘voluntary’ action.

The European Union passed the Digital Services Act (DSA), which compels social media companies to provide more transparency on how their algorithms work – the EU has shown that it’s willing to take steps. But despite this, the big social media companies aren’t taking it seriously enough.

This Wild West approach where we have no regulation and anything goes is simply not sustainable – legislation is necessary for these companies to take their responsibilities seriously.

6) Train new PR recruits to question content

There are workshops out there – from The Guardian and The Times, for example – on how to identify content that’s false and misleading, instilling more general critical thinking skills. Other resources can show you the difference between a headline that’s fake or true; how you can look at the originality of sources; how to do a reverse image search if you’ve got a doctored image; and determining the intent of the source. This is all housekeeping and hygiene practices we can instill in those early in their career.

Our focus is on education right now, because if those in school can develop their critical thinking skills, they’ll be better equipped to deal with these challenges at work. But we need to think about bringing these resources into current workforce environments, too.

7) Remember we aren’t in a post-truth world yet

There are people that have already succumbed to their echo chambers and only read content that re-enforces their own existing biases, but the fight is not lost.

There’s still an opportunity to fight false information with the facts – the problem is that we haven’t taken any action yet.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak always talks about the importance of teaching Maths– really, we should be talking about the importance of digital literacy.

The US government is preparing for a polarised society in 15 to 20 years, so we still have some time to deal with this problem. But we must act fast to fight back and take the necessary action now.

For more on Thomas Barton’s work with Polis Analysis, read our previous interview ‘The fight against misinformation, disinformation and fake news is just beginning’.

Find out how big brands including Coca-Cola, FIFA, and British Airways have dealt with PR crises in our webinar ‘Speak up or shut down: The value of proactive PR in a crisis’ and track your own company and clients’ reputations in the press with Vuelio Media Monitoring.

What is SEO PR? Why using a combined Digital PR and SEO strategy is the key to success

What is SEO PR? Why using a combined Digital PR and SEO strategy is the key to success

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Good content and outreach are the foundation of digital PR and SEO, so it makes sense to formulate a combined strategy to help drive traffic, increase visibility and generate valuable publicity for your content.

In this article, we’ll explore how Digital PR and SEO can come together to form an integrated SEO PR strategy and the benefits of bringing these disciplines together to accelerate success online.

What is SEO?

SEO, short for Search Engine Optimisation, refers to the process of driving organic traffic from search engines to your website, using a set of practices designed to get your content to rank better in the SERPs (search engine results page).

Most people discover content online from organic search results, so a good SEO strategy is key for driving traffic to your website.

Google’s algorithm is responsible for determining where pages rank for a specific search query, and this is dependent on how compliant pages and content are with Google’s ranking factors.

To optimise your content to rank highly in search engines, you’ll need to consider:

1. Keyword research

Keyword research is the vital first step when optimising your content for SEO purposes. Paid SEO tools such as SEMrush, Moz and Ahrefs provide extensive keyword data, covering everything from competitor analysis, gaps in your keyword research and keyword difficulty to help you make informed decisions when finding keywords to target in your content.

However, free platforms such as Google’s Keyword Planner and Google Trends are also valuable for finding relevant keywords. You’ll still find essential insights like search volume to help you select the higher-priority keywords that will help you drive traffic, but paid sites offer more data to ensure you utilise the right keywords for your content.

2. On-page SEO and page structure

On-page SEO is the vital optimisation stage. Once you know which keywords you’re targeting and you have your content written up, on-page SEO techniques are essential if you’re hoping to drive traffic and get your content ranking highly in the SERPs. On-page SEO includes:

Header tags
Structuring your content with appropriate header tags. This not only makes your content more readable for both users and search engines, but gives you the opportunity to highlight your primary and secondary keywords. The H1 on your page should also include the primary keyword and acts as the main title at the very top of your page, while H2s and H3s mark the following subheadings.

Page title and meta description
A page title and meta description are the first element of your content users will interact with in the SERPs, giving them a chance to preview the subject of your content as a snippet, ultimately influencing whether they engage and whether your snippets attract clicks. Beyond that, a well-structured page title and meta description, including your keywords, will indicate to crawlers and search engines what your page is trying to rank for.

Keywords
So, now you’ve done all your keyword research and selected the most relevant phrases with significant search volume, using keywords doesn’t stop at your header tags. Using your keyword throughout the body of your content is essential for indicating to both users and search engines that the entirety of your content is relevant and adequately answers the search query the keywords are targeting.

While the first section of your content is arguably most important for engaging the user and keeping them reading on to lessen the chance of a high bounce rate, using variations of your keyword throughout you can signal to search engines what your content is about, helping you rank higher in the SERPs for your primary keyword.

However, using keywords in the body of your content will only be effective if you avoid keyword stuffing. Only include your keywords if it feels natural and purposeful, as search engines like Google can pick up on the relevancy of keyword use, and black hat SEO tactics often do more harm than good.

Images and videos
Using visual aids on the page works alongside your content by enhancing your overall message and engaging the user by splitting up large chunks of text that would appear weighty. According to Search Engine Land, web content done right should be designed for skim reading, as it’s found that online audiences ‘scan through it in order to find quick visual cues that will help them get the information they want. When they see something that appeals to them, they’ll stop and read more thoroughly’.

But, beyond ensuring your content is user-friendly and readable, optimising your images and videos with relevant file names and alt text helps to boost both SEO and accessibility. From an SEO perspective, descriptive alt text helps Google understand your image and how it relates to your content.

Internal and external links
Internal and external links with optimised anchor text focused on relevant keywords are vital for your content to rank highly in the SERPs. The first step is to understand the difference between internal and external links.

Internal links direct to a target page on your site, increasing engagement by providing users with a call-to-action where they can follow up on further information about a particular topic. As well as that internal links also help to direct crawlers around your site, helping search engine bots navigate your site and find other related pages. On the other hand, external links point to another website – linking to trustworthy material that helps to back up your content from an authoritative source improving your content’s credibility.

When using internal and external links, it’s also essential to optimise your anchor text to ensure users and search engines understand what the webpage you’re linking to is about and how it relates to your content. Anchor text, or link text is the clickable text of a link within the body of your content; it’s typically displayed in blue and underlined. Using keyword-rich anchor text that’s relevant, natural and varied will help your content rank.

3. Building links to your content

Link building is arguably one of Google’s most significant ranking factors in SEO. As mentioned in the above point outlining internal and external links, relevant links pointing out from your content to authoritative sites can help to position the article as trustworthy in the eyes of Google.

The other side of that, however, is that other websites can also link to your content, positioning it as an authoritative and expert source of reference – in SEO, these are called backlinks. An easy way to think of a backlink is as a ‘vote of confidence’; the more backlinks you acquire from credible sites, the higher your content can rank in the SERPs.

Acquiring backlinks are where traditional PR techniques come to play, as outreach is a common theme for both PR and SEO. While creating high-quality content means you’ll increase the chance of your article being found and linked to organically, SEOs regularly practise outreach for link building to promote the article and ask relevant people, bloggers, organisations or websites to link to your content.

Knowing this, the natural affinity between PR and SEO is apparent. Backlinks are one of the most fundamental elements of successful SEO, and Digital PR methods can aid this enormously.

What is SEO PR, and how is it different to traditional PR?

Aided by the knowledge of SEO foundations, it’s time to apply all you already know about Digital PR with SEO techniques to build your SEO PR strategy.

Now more than ever, PR and SEO are being thought of less as separate disciplines but as intrinsically linked due to their shared requirements for success – high-quality content and credible and authoritative media coverage or backlinks.

So, what is SEO PR, and how can it be understood? In short, SEO PR isn’t too dissimilar from traditional PR. SEO PR is still centred around creating high-quality content or campaigns and pitching to media to secure coverage but with the bonus of SEO-optimised content stemming from keyword research and on and off-page SEO tactics to generate organic traffic and discoveries from the SERPs.

SEO PR shouldn’t be considered a replacement for traditional PR methods but as PR and SEO working together and complementing each other for even greater success within campaigns, content and coverage.

However, one key difference is how PR and SEO professionals track the success of content and campaigns and the metrics they measure. While traditional PRs measure content success using metrics such as volume, reach, media opportunities, social engagement, and sentiment, SEOs measure organic traffic, keyword rankings, search visibility, revenue, sessions, and bounce rate.

The beauty of Digital PR and its primary focus on online forums is that PRs can use SEO metrics to measure the success of their online campaigns, all while propelling the reach of their content through SEO optimisation. On the flip side, SEO benefits from quality backlinks and general brand awareness – strengthened and supported by Digital PR expertise.

Top ways to implement a SEO PR strategy as a Digital PR professional

So, now you know how to optimise your content using SEO techniques, it’s time to combine what you already know about Digital PR and SEO to implement your winning SEO PR strategy.

Below, we’ll explore the synergy of PR and SEO to weave out the top ways you can actualise your combined strategy as a Digital PR professional:

Better understand your target audience with keyword research

The best way to guarantee your content creates a buzz and becomes a newsworthy piece picked up in the media is by directly appealing to your audience and what they’re currently talking about online.

With keyword research tools, as previously discussed, you can find out which keywords your audience is interested in and the volume of the search queries surrounding a specific subject.

Once you have a better idea of your audience, the topics of interest, and the keywords they’re using to discuss the subject online, you can tailor your word usage to reflect your target audience and become more aware of the media outlets your target audience are likely to engage with.

Target sites with a high Domain Authority (DA)

Domain Authority (DA) is a metric devised by Moz to measure how authoritative a site is. Websites are given a score from 1 – 100, 100 being the best possible score and a greater probability of ranking highly in the SERPs.

Link data is the principal determiner of an authority score. Sites with a large amount of high-quality external links will have a higher DA, and smaller sites with fewer external links pointing to them will have a lower DA.

With this in mind, it makes sense to consider the DA of sites you’re outreaching as part of your SEO PR strategy. Use SEO tools, such as Moz and SEMrush, to factor in a site’s DA when compiling your media outreach hit list, as a backlink from a website with a high authority score is an SEO PR win.

PR link building: focus on building high-authority backlinks through Digital PR campaigns

As we all know, PRs are experts in outreach, which is why Digital PR and SEO work together so well. Once you’ve compiled a list of relevant websites with high DAs, it’s time to start the SEO PR outreach effort to ‘earn’ high-authority backlinks.

Digital PRs are specialists in media relations, pitching and press release distribution, making them experts in outreach and acquiring links – something many SEOs describe as one of the hardest parts of the job.

In SEO, for a backlink to be considered high-authority, the links must be ‘earned’ and not paid for, meaning obtaining links from sites with high DAs, such as the BBC or Forbes, is a challenging endeavour that can often take time.

Digital PRs have the expertise of putting time into researching journalists and knowing how to grab their interest with a tailored pitch, making Digital PR link-building essential to successful SEO.

So, is SEO PR the future for Digital PR professionals?

The natural synergies between Digital PR and SEO make both disciplines invaluable to the other. By using these SEO techniques, PRs can optimise their content to increase visibility across search engines, drive traffic for your brand and monitor the success of Digital PR campaigns. On the other hand, SEOs can utilise the expertise of Digital PRs to acquire high-quality backlinks to increase the authoritativeness of a website.

While SEO PR isn’t a replacement for traditional PR techniques, it embraces the natural link between Digital PR and SEO that professionals can combine to form a strategy that brings substantial success.

For more guidance on SEO best practices, download our white paper.