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5 Reasons to Invest in Your Future, Despite the Scary Past

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Welcome to Q3, 2020. What does that mean for how public relations and marketing departments will invest in their futures?

Q4 will be the time to finalize budgets for 2021. After a tumultuous year including a pandemic, record unemployment, civil unrest and a to-be-determined presidential election, not to mention murder hornets and whatever else the universe chooses to throw against us this year, 2021 may be a welcome sight. But with the roller coaster year we’ve had, faith in budgets may not be so faithful.

Investors will tell you that when the stock market plummets, don’t stress out thinking you’ve lost a fortune. Instead, remind yourself that stocks are now on sale. Buy while prices are at their lowest.

Channeling money back into your business is solid advice any time but especially after a difficult year. Here are five reasons why hiring a public relations firm could be the wisest decision to help you make up for lost revenue.

  1. Pay the pros, not the employees. Even in the healthcare world during a pandemic, health-related jobs are not secure. If your company had to reduce its staff, it’s likely support personnel including social media teams and internal communications managers may have been the first people to go. Hiring a PR firm, however, comes with all these specialists, and so many more. Fully staffed agencies have writers, SEO and content marketing pros, just to name a few, and you won’t have to pay for their unemployment insurance, 401K contributions, or health insurance premiums.
  1. Investors aren’t. This June article from MobiHealthNews points out that in these uncertain times, investors aren’t investing, especially in startups. Smaller companies must find other ways to get their message out, and their brand recognized until they can score a big influx of cash. An agency with a proven track record is the safest option for small companies with limited resources.
  1. The press release is still king. In this blog recently contributed by my colleague, Brandon Glenn, most journalists (36%) still receive their news from the good old press release. A PR firm will staff writers to get your message out there, and better still, leverage it to your target audience. And what about news wire prices? Agencies negotiate rock-bottom deals because of the number of releases they send each year, which means that’s one less contract you have to maintain. The perfect agency will also understand your niche market, so its messaging is on-point, saving you valuable time on revisions and re-reads.
  1. Full service or customized options. The perfect agency is also one that is full service, meaning it’s a one-stop-shop for everything from social media to revamping your website. However, if you don’t have the budget or need for all services, ask for customized options to fill the gaps in your internal marketing department. Perhaps you have a great handle on social media, but your website or collateral material is outdated. Or maybe you want to launch a new product. A great PR firm will offer guidance on how to best utilize the money in your budget.
  1. Uncertainty of in-person events. If there’s one thing 2020 taught us, it’s not to count on a sure thing. For the first time in 58 years, the HIMSS Annual Conference was canceled. Much to the dismay of exhibitors, HIMSS didn’t handle the monetary situation very well. Many exhibitors slated for 2020 are trying to decide if they are going to boycott in 2021. No matter your opinion on this topic, the fact is in-person events may not be happening, at least with the same attendance levels, as they have in past years. While ROI on virtual events is showing improvement, it’s even more important to consider all your options when trying to fill your sales pipeline. Having a good, established agency that specializes in your market, and who has a lot of experience and many solutions, will be important for moving forward post-COVID-19.

We may all be happy to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. But let’s not be afraid of 2021 and the opportunities it has to offer.

My brother, who is a locksmith, knows one simple truth; the months he advertises are the months his phone rings. A full-service public relations agency will know how to guide you, and help you get the most bang for your buck. Invest in your future!

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September A Great Time to Begin Planning 2020 PR Budgets

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It’s September. The kids are back to school and summer vacations are over. It’s the time of the year when our clients start planning their PR budgets for 2020. What are some considerations for you to make when planning your company’s public relations budget? Here’s a list of a few to consider:

  1. Know your goals. Public Relations goals can be as few or as many as you need. Just be sure to be consistent with your business and marketing goals. Examples of these goals include increasing traffic to your website, increasing your share of voice, highlighting key customer accomplishments or introducing and utilizing new subject matter experts from your company. Whatever your goals are, make sure they are SMART specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
  2. Events Major events or trade shows such as HIMSS take a tremendous amount of planning and preparation to be a success. It’s important to budget for the additional work necessary to lead up to major conferences and in many cases that work can start four months in advance. Have you considered any special events your company would like to host at the tradeshow? Are you planning for press and analyst meetings and support from your PR team at the events? Have your marketing materials and key messages been updated to support any announcements you plan to make at the show? Don’t forget to include travel expenses as part of your budget.
  3. New Product Announcements Most technology companies have a schedule of when they can announce new products or product enhancements. New product announcements can sometimes be a heavier lift for your PR team. Planning in advance for any necessary analyst briefings is a great strategy. Have you considered a paid relationship with a key analyst as part to of your marketing or PR budget? What about a webinar to help promote your new product? There can be website and messaging enhancements needed around a new product announcement as well.
  4. Customer promotion Getting customers to agree to interviews or case studies is what the media desperately wants. But it doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers. Having internal support to foster client relationships and educate them on the value of promoting their relationship with your company is key. And there is time involved in developing that customer story interviews, writing, editing, approvals and pitching those stories. It can take a lot of work. If you have customers that are willing to speak about their experience utilizing your technology, you need to have a strategy and budget in place to support this gold mine opportunity.
  5. Team Expertise When you begin working on your marketing/PR budget for 2020, it helps to have an industry-knowledgeable outside resource to bounce ideas off of. Your Amendola team can help you build an annual plan to help you achieve your public relations goals. As your PR partners, your team will have a great feel for what worked previously and what might be good opportunities to change things up to achieve great results in the coming year. Once you have a solid PR plan in place, it will be much easier to build out the PR section of your marketing budget.

Next January may seem like it’s a long way away, but in marketing-time it’s really not. Be sure you start planning now so you’re ready to hit the ground running in 2020.