Category: Blog

Every year around budget planning time, business owners and managers start to pick through everything in the budget and ask, “Is this working and is it worth it?” Marketing, in particular, receives considerable scrutiny because it is difficult to measure. And public relations, because of its vague measurement criteria, invariably begs the question “Is an Orlando PR firm worth it? Do we really need to spend money on PR?”

Your marketing has three primary options: advertise, publicize … or both

The totality of your marketing outreach to build sales of your product or service will depend on how much you can afford to put your name in front of your target audience.

If you totally rely on advertising, be prepared to spend. Advertising is costly, and with the onset of online marketing, has become increasingly fragmented and difficult to measure.

What are the benefits of advertising?

The benefit of advertising is you can totally control where and when your messages appear and who will be exposed to them.

What are the disadvantages of advertising?

The negative of advertising is your ad message must compete with every other ad message.  To put this in perspective, Americans are exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 advertising messages every day.

Some advertising is certainly necessary, but how much you can afford to spend on advertising is totally up to your overall marketing strategy and budget.

Public relations is considerably less costly than advertising.

What are the benefits of PR?

The upside of PR is that media coverage can create awareness levels for relatively little cost, along with the benefit of outside recognition of your business.

What are the disadvantages of PR?

The downside to PR is that publicity requires time and redundancy to connect with media…and media are the decision makers about when and if they will focus on your business.

A sound marketing plan will include public relations in the mix

If your enterprise has the financial ability, a combined marketing approach provides you with double coverage—the ability to control where your message appears via your advertising along with the power of media coverage for your business from media relations.

So, what to do?

This article provides a thoughtful approach that addresses the question of developing a well-balanced marketing plan.

Truth be known, there is no one single answer to the challenge of how much to invest in marketing, just as there are no two businesses that are identical.

At our Orlando PR firm, we can help you with your marketing plan

The folks at our Orlando PR firm look at themselves as marketers first and public relations specialists second.

The only reason we exist is to help you sell your product or service. After all, that is the only reason marketing exists.

What differentiates us is that we think and act like marketers, but we use publicity and reputation building as our primary means of getting the word out. Our tool kit includes things like stories, photos, videos, special events and relationship building with key industry media leaders and audience connectors.

As 2026 starts to appear on the calendar, think about using a combined approach in your marketing plan. Include public relations in the mix.

And when you add public relations, call us at 407-339-0879 or email us at will@wellonscommunications.com and let us help you include an affordable way to include PR.

As Q2 winds down, we’re just about halfway through 2025 (believe it or not!). As we head into the second half of the year, we’re looking back on all the goals we set when the year was young. As an Orlando social media agency, Wellons Communications believes in preventive care—like your mid-year checkup at the doctor, but for your social media. Now that the year is half over, we think it’s time to grab your digital stethoscope and check the pulse of your content and engagement.

Check out our list below for some ideas, and feel free to read more on our approach to social media best practices in our “best practices” blog or discover how to find a social media agency, all part of our full social media services at Wellons.

1. Refresh your bio and about sections

Make sure all profiles feature current bios, brand‑aligned visuals and accurate links. You might spruce them up, just for fun! Optimize you links in bio or Linktree for Instagram, and ensure your “about” sections showcase the right keywords and calls to action (CTAs).

2. Check content performance

Analyze top-performing posts—are videos on the grid or polls in your story driving engagement? Evaluate low-performing content: what could have improved reach or resonance?

3. Review audience engagement and demographics

Look at your audience makeup—age, location, interests. Are you cultivating your intended audience? Does anything surprise you? Social media is a great place to check the mirror of your business. If you feel anything is not what you expected, consider adjusting your content to meet the new audience or adjusting ad targeting to reach your intended audience.

4. Compare performance against last year and your goals

Check performance vs. last year and your year‑end targets—follower growth, engagement or conversions. Are you on track for your goals? Are you outperforming last year? A course correction now can set you up for success.

5. Monitor competitors and trends

Assess competitors’ strategies—hashtags, platforms and formats, to name a few. Scan emerging trends: new apps, challenges or formats. Is there anything you can adopt or work into your strategy? Are there any opportunities you might be missing?

6. Tweak your content calendar

Use performance insights to update your calendar—add high‑performing formats and shuffle content to align with upcoming events. Encourage customers to share their stories or experiences with your products so you have fresh user-generated content. UGC is trusted—84% of Millennials say it influences buying decisions.

7. Freshen seasonal content

As you enter the hottest months of the year, do you have video and photos to match? As you look down the stretch of 2025, are there any content buckets you’re missing? Plan now for photos shoots or sessions to fill out the rest of your content calendar.

8. Audit ad performance and targeting

Compare ad results with organic performance. If a theme resonates organically, amplify it via ads—shifting budget to the highest return on investment (ROI). Does your ad strategy fit or enhance any of the audience or engagement trends you’ve seen in your checkup? Do you need to change any targeting or content?

9. Build a reporting and agility routine

Set monthly or quarterly reviews tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like followers, engagement and clicks. Stay nimble and iterate based on data. You might already be doing this, but a good checkup practice is to ensure you’re reporting on all key categories that fuel your year-end goals.

10. Apply the 80/20 Rule

Ensure 80 percent of posts provide value—education, stories, entertainment—and only 20 percent are promos. Research shows this balance strengthens audience loyalty.

Why a mid-year checkup matters

Social media evolves fast—what performed in January may underperform in July. A systematic mid‑year audit—from refreshing profiles to rebalancing content—ensures your channels remain relevant, competitive and aligned with audience expectations. As a full-service public relations agency, Wellons Communications ensures that alignment across messaging, branding and community building.

According to marketing experts, a routine audit helps reallocate resources, uncover new opportunities and optimize emerging channels.

Strengthen your social strategy with an Orlando social media agency

Your social media health matters. If data revealed gaps, it’s time for a tune‑up. Wellons Communications—your trusted PR firm and Orlando social media agency—is ready to help. Read our social media check‑up guide and let’s have a conversation. Give us a call at 407‑339‑0879, and let’s start the communication.

Putting together the year’s marketing plan is always a challenge.

Planning ahead requires knowledge, insight, foresight, and the ability to know how to capitalize on the strength of your product or service, the weaknesses of your competitors, what’s going on in your product or service category, your ability to deliver what you say you can deliver and, of course, your budget.

The calendar itself offers you a wealth of marketing opportunities

When searching for ideas that you can “own,” start with the calendar. It is loaded with ideas waiting to be discovered.

What are the dates for the key trade shows for your business? What consumer-oriented special “days” or “months” can you capitalize on? What milestone events are your organization or industry observing in the coming months or years?

How can you take advantage of traditional holidays like the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas and nationally observed holidays like Presidents’ Day?

Almost every single day of the year offers a marketing “schtick”

Beyond the traditional federal holidays, the U.S. has a vibrant collection of “non-traditional” or unofficial holidays. These range from food-focused observances to quirky awareness days, like National Pizza Day (Feb. 9), Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19), National Clean Your Desk Day (second Monday of January), and National Pet Day (April 11).

The vast majority of these commercially oriented unofficial “holidays” likely will not fit into your marketing plan. But there is every likelihood that one, two, or even three of them might provide an opportunity for you to connect—or strengthen your connection—with your current and potential customers. 

So, how could I capitalize on special marketing calendar opportunities?

1. Start with your own organization.
   Are you celebrating an anniversary (e.g. 25 years in business) or about to reach a benchmark milestone (e.g. 100,000 visitors or $1 million in sales)? If so, tell the world about it and share the news of your success.

2. Take advantage of someone else’s calendar event.
   Here are some off-the-wall ideas that serve as examples of how you might take advantage of some of the “holidays” that are promoted.

   Surprise your office and your clients on National Balloons Around the World Day (October 1, 2025) by delivery of balloons with an “uplifting message” aimed at bringing a smile to your employees and your clients.

   If your product or service is aimed at seniors, capitalize on Curmudgeons Day (Jan. 29, 2026, if you’re paying attention), which acknowledges the cranky and fussy people in our lives. Picture Oscar the Grouch, Mr. Mooney from the Lucy Show, the old lady at the cashier, or your grandfather sitting on his porch—and blow them a kiss on this fun and unusual “holiday.”

So where do I find all these “days”?

All these calendar-based marketing opportunities are only a click away.

Here are some links that will help you look some of these “days” over and get you thinking about how you can capitalize on them.

https://nationaltoday.com

https://www.calendarr.com/united-states/observances-2025/

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com

https://eventsinamerica.com/events/trade-shows/2025

So how does Wellons Communications fit into this calendar picture?

We’re an Orlando marketing agency…that utilizes publicity and public relations to augment our client’s marketing initiatives.

Unlike paid advertising, we seek out and capitalize on affordable marketing opportunities that clients use to strengthen and expand awareness of their product or service.

We recognize that not every business can afford a substantial advertising budget, so we put our minds to work to find ways that can deliver the same kind of results without overloading your marketing budget.

It’s a strategic approach we define as OPM…taking advantage of Other People’s Money.

Put Wellons to work on seeking OPM opportunities for you.

Capitalizing on holidays and commercially recognized calendar events is only one example of the creativity we bring to the table to expand our client’s marketing programs.

As you look over your marketing calendar, schedule a date to give us a call and let us see how we can add publicity and public relations to your marketing mix…all aimed at selling your product, services and ideas.

Call us at 407-339-0879 or email us at will@wellonscommunications.com and let’s look at what’s on your calendar.

We say it a lot at Wellons Communications: No one likes to think about their worst day at work. Even so, at some point in your business career, you’re going need crisis communications. It might be something as small as a negative review on social media or as big as a natural disaster, customer or employee injury or a police incident.

So when it happens, do you know who you’re going to call? The most important way to approach crisis communications is to have a plan in place. That plan will include having a crisis team and a process for speedy communications. While your plan might be different for your business and might scale based on the incident, here are three good calls to make in any crisis.

Internal stakeholders

Assuming you have already called 911 if the situation warrants, the first calls you should make in a crisis situation are to your own team. You need to make sure everyone is on the same page and the plan is being activated. You might need to call managers on the ground to find out more about who is involved and what happened, and you should tell them to ensure all media calls are being directed to your spokesperson. No manager or employee should be speaking with media or posting to social media without approval—everything can be a company statement. If media are inquiring, have staff members take a message with contact information so the PR team can return calls. You should also be alerting leadership about the situation as part of the crisis PR plan.

The PR team

Immediately after you contact key team players, you should alert your PR team to the situation. At Wellons, we’ve answered the phone in the middle of the night more than once. This is why you have a crisis PR firm. They have an outside view of the situation and are trained to respond in a way that puts your company in the strongest position for a tough situation. Your PR team should be activating holding responses that are planned in advance and working through the chain of communications to prepare a statement or media availability. They should be fielding calls and emails asking for comments and distributing the approved statement or setting up spokesperson interviews. Their team should also be monitoring for any coverage or repercussions and sharing updates with stakeholders.

Legal or HR

Once some of the dust has settled in a situation, you might need to call your legal or HR team, depending on the situation. They’ll be able to shed light on what, if any, next steps or long-term tactics you need to adopt. These might affect future communications as you move forward in the post-crisis business landscape, so be sure to update your PR team.

What’s next?

Once you’re on the other side of a crisis, you should meet with your stakeholders and PR team to develop a plan for communications going forward. Will there be updates to this story or situation? Do you need to rehab your company reputation in any way to regain trust? If business has returned to normal, you might also want to review your crisis communications plan. Or, if this was a wake-up call, you might want to dig in and craft a better plan for next time—because there will be a next time.

Want some expert advice? At Wellons Communications, we’ve been through just about everything and helped clients come out the other side with great crisis communications. Make us your first call after finishing this blog. We answer 24/7, 365. Dial 407-462-2718.

In today’s digital world, a strong social media presence is essential for many businesses looking to grow their brand and connect with customers. However, managing social media effectively takes time, expertise and consistency. That’s where a social media agency comes in.

Social media agency services can range from professional content creation and targeted ad strategies to community curation and data-driven insights, all to help businesses maximize their online impact. But to get the most out of your partnership, it’s important to follow key best practices. In this blog, we’ll explore the best ways to work with a social media agency to ensure successful collaboration and achieve your marketing goals.

Define goals and roles

The first best practice starts before the contract is in place. Hopefully you defined your goals when you were selecting an agency and picked accordingly. Regardless, set a strong foundation by making sure you and your agency are both clear on who is expected to do what. It’s great to have a kickoff call to discuss these roles and what that looks like. You should also be very clear about your goals. This might come in the form of official KPIs or a more general outline of what success looks like to you.

Share your vision and brand standards

You probably already have a good sense of what your company is and what your brand standards are. It’s essential to share that with your agency to ensure consistency across content and interactions. After all, your agency will be speaking for you. Share your logos and usage notes, brand colors, and any other brand standards. It’s also important to share notes on the company’s voice, especially if the agency will be responding to reviews and comments. And remember, while starting out on a good foot is important, brand voice and standards are a constantly evolving conversation, both internally and with your agency.

Communicate constantly

That brings us to the next point. When you are working with a social media agency, communication is key. Regular meetings allow you to review engagement progress and reach, learn about potential new marketing strategies, and review performance to see what is helpful and where you might need to pivot. It also allows you to share updates with your agency and keep them on top of your goals. Scheduling regular check-ins can allow you to stay informed, make data-driven decisions, and ensure your social media strategy remains flexible, effective, and aligned with your business goals. Even so, don’t forget to drop a quick email, call or text if things change.

Provide input and feedback

When you take on a social media agency, they become part of your team. Your feedback ensures that the agency’s efforts align with your brand’s vision, values, and goals. This helps them create content and strategies that truly reflect what you want to achieve. Your agency is going to do things you might not do, especially as they get to know you. Your constructive input helps the agency refine their strategies and content. By communicating what works and what doesn’t, you help them improve and optimize their approach over time.

Stay open and flexible

While it’s definitely important to share goals and feedback, it’s also vital to listen to your agency and remain open to their ideas and takes. What’s the point of hiring an agency otherwise? The social media landscape changes and evolves often. In this constantly shifting environment, staying open and flexible is crucial. What worked in the past may not be as effective now or for a specific project. Social media agencies are skilled at evaluating the current social market, trends, and marketing strategies to create a plan that effectively communicates and markets your business’s content. This may involve adjusting to new strategies or adapting plans. Your agency has your business’s best interests at heart, and trusting their expertise while remaining open to new suggestions helps both parties perform at their best.

At Wellons Communications, we make these practices a priority

Choosing the right social media agency can make a significant difference in the growth and success of your business. By partnering with an experienced social media marketing agency, you gain access to expert strategies that enhance your online presence and engage your target audience. Whether you need effective social media management, tailored social media marketing services, or digital PR from a PR agency, Wellons would love to help. Give us a call at 407-339-0879 and let’s start the communication.

When you begin to onboard a PR agency, it’s a new start and a chance to introduce a group of expert communicators to your team.

At Wellons Communications, we are fortunate to have several new starts every year. They arrive with the assignment of new business.

So how do we approach new assignments? What can you expect when you bring us aboard as a member of your marketing team?

1. We get to know you and your marketing environment

Depending on the industry, we tackle new assignments in two different ways.

If we are already familiar with your industry, we utilize the know-how we already possess and seek to capitalize and build on the strengths of our existing relationships with media and your other key marketing audiences.

While nurturing existing media relationships is important, expanding your network is crucial, especially in a new sector.

When we enter unfamiliar territory, we look for ways to streamline our learning curve so that we can deliver results for you as quickly as possible while looking for new, different or overlooked opportunities.

Here’s an example.

When we first come aboard, we take a close look at media data third party content like Cision or Muck Rack to identify journalists covering your industry. In particular, we look for writers who have recently produced content related to your area. We visit the LinkedIn pages of media outlets and click on “people”, which gives us a list of people who work at an outlet, which makes it easier to identify the right contacts and look for profiles that may list recent activity related to your field.

2. We talk to industry experts and listen

We have found that one of of the best sources for finding out what media are looking for in your marketing environment is to talk to journalists and sector veterans for insights beyond desk research. They can decode jargon, identify influential players, and highlight emerging trends.

We start following specific journalists on social media platforms like Twitter and Linkedin. We engage with their posts, comment on articles and share relevant content. This helps us understand their interests and establish a connection before pitching.

When we talk with knowledgeable industry experts, we are not afraid of appearing unprofessional for not knowing something about a particular industry. We welcome the opportunity to expand our knowledge and, along the way, look for new and different ideas that will augment our client’s marketing initiatives.

3. We immerse ourselves in your business and culture

As newcomers to your business, we want to become a member of your business as quickly as possible.

We meet and listen to your business’s leaders to get a clear idea of their wants, needs, and expectations. We interact your marketing team and seek to know what works, what has not worked, and what could work while gaining their trust as a means of support for their efforts.

In particular, we get acquainted with your marketing plan, so we know where you are headed and what you want to accomplish.

4. We fish where the fish are biting…by narrowing our focus

Once we have gotten better acquainted with your business, we get to work.

On of the first things you receieve when you onboard a PR agency is a Public Relations plan. We develop materials (e.g. press kits, photos, video, graphics) that make it easy for media to include you in their stories. We generate tactical approaches that will complement the objectives and strategies outlined in your marketing plan.

Once that’s done, we generally start by pitching media on your behalf using the front-end research we have conducted and information we have prepared for media.

Our pitching is aimed squarely at media who might want or seek your story.  According to the 2024 Muck Rack survey, 83% of journalists prefer personalized email pitches. This stems from a simple truth: journalists seek stories that resonate with their readers.

With that in mind, we conduct personalized media pitches aimed at more rapidly generating results.

And, as we surge forward, we measure our results and success, learning what works best and, by watching what is happening in your industry, what to avoid in the future.

The same formula is followed in the other aspects of public relations programs we create for clients: research, plan, execute, measure.

5. We are eager to help your marketing get a fresh start

Are you ready to onboard a PR firm and start incorporating publicity and public relations into your marketing plan?

At Wellons Communications, we regard ourselves as marketers…marketers who possess proven, effective skills in the public relations sector.

From first-time PR plans that address ongoing PR needs to one-time projects that aim at supporting a particular marketing initiative, we have a proven track record to illustrate our success.

Social media has become an integral part of business…and life in general. Not only is it all but necessary for growing your brand, it can be a great way to reach your audience and gain valuable insights. A good social media strategy takes time and energy, and that can take focus away from running a business. That’s when you might turn to an agency.

If you’re looking to increase engagement and performance online, a social media agency could be right for you. Not sure how to find one? Here are a few things to consider when looking for the right fit.

Expertise across platforms

It’s easy to make a post on social media, but it’s hard to make content that connects with audiences and drives engagement. Expertise and experience with each platform allow a social media company to tailor messages directly to your target audience while using best practices to maximize reach. If you’re selling consumer goods, you’ll want to choose an agency with strong experience selling on Instagram and TikTok. B2B companies will likely focus their efforts on a platform like LinkedIn. You’ll want to understand what the agency specializes in and make sure it aligns with the platforms you care about.

Industry-specific experience

No two industries are the same, and there will be different obstacles, opportunities, and requirements for each one. A social media agency with knowledge of your specific industry can be a great asset because they will understand your business’s unique circumstances. Different content types will work better for different industries (User-generated, behind-the-scenes, etc.), and an agency with expertise will be familiar with your audience’s points of interest.

Content creation

Consistent posting on social media demands a high volume of quality content, which can be time-consuming. When selecting an agency, you need to ensure its capabilities align with your business needs. Do they have the resources to capture original content on-site? Can they create and edit videos? These are key questions to consider when outsourcing social media management. Additionally, an agency with access to professional photographers can elevate your brand with high-quality visuals. An Orlando social media agency like Wellons Communications could even come onsite and capture content for you if you’re in the area.

Staying on trend

The social media landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s essential to find a social media firm that stays on trend. Platforms introduce new features, algorithms shift and audience preferences are always changing. An agency that keeps up with these changes will help your business stay relevant and competitive. They’ll know how to incorporate trending content formats like reels, stories, and more into your strategy and will be ahead of the curve to participate in ongoing trends. Staying on trend also shows your audience your brand is listening, engaged and in tune with their interests, which helps maintain loyalty and solidifies your brand identity.

Knowing how to execute on ads

If you already advertise on social media, you’ll want to ensure your agency of choice can take over or improve upon the strategy you have now. If you haven’t tried advertising on social media, you might take this chance to give it a try. It’s a relatively low-cost way to reach an audience, raise awareness, drive engagement or even make sales. Social media advertising can range greatly from small budgets and complementary objectives to huge campaigns with creative components and sales integrations. You need to make sure your agency can meet whatever level of service you need.

Public relations expertise

Public relations expertise is crucial for a social media agency. Why? Because these days, social media basically is crisis communications. A social media agency that is involved in management for your business will need to monitor comments and reviews, flag concerning content and be able to craft the right response. Social media can also be bolstered by PR activities, like user-generated content or influencer partnerships. If these things are important to you, you’ll want to be sure your agency can marry PR and social media…or at least work well with your PR firm or employees.

Find a social media agency

Choosing the right social media agency can be a game-changer for your business. With expertise across platforms, industry-specific knowledge, strong content creation abilities and PR skills, the right agency will help your brand grow, connect with your audience and stay ahead of the competition. When you partner with the right agency, you can focus on running your business and leave the day-to-day details of social media management to the experts.

If you’re looking for a social media agency or to chat about social media management, Wellons Communications would love to help. For more information on how to contact us, click here.

Every business head likes a marketing tool that doesn’t cost anything and can reach virtually all one’s target audiences with an unfiltered message. That tool already exists — blogs.  And most businesses already maintain a blog on their website.

According to MasterBlogging.com, in 2025, 90% of businesses have a blog, with 91% of business-to-business (B2B) and 86% of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies augment their websites with a blog.

Stats like this underscore how blogs have become established elements of a marketing and public relations program. Blogs communicate stories about one’s business in a compelling way that strengthens your relationships with existing customers, engages new audiences, and positions you as a thought leader in your field.

What’s not to like about blogs?

Nothing, other than the time it takes to write the blog and post it on your website. If you want to add some spice to your blog, incorporate some graphics and even a short video or two. The exact format and way you present is solely up to you and there’s virtually no cost to creating the content.

Blogs share your story in your voice…and they are unfiltered and share your story precisely as you want to share it. It’s an easy way to position yourself as competent, a leader in your field and to provide valuable information to your audience.

Unlike static, unchanging components of your website, like “Contact,” or “About Us,” Blogs thrive on regular updates in the form of new blog posts. This fresh content keeps your readers engaged and signals to search engines that your site is active and relevant.

Blogs provide new reasons to return to your website

One characteristic of a blog does require a little bit of work. That’s because a successful blog is not a “set it and forget it” undertaking.

There is a need to keep your information fresh and provide useful, new and provide reasons for readers to return to your site. By keeping information dynamic, readers can connect with your business with a personal sense of belonging that other marketing elements cannot necessarily provide.

In other words, keeping your blog fresh can be likened to caring for an indoor plant that requires watering, occasional nutrients, and moving around to catch sufficient sun for growth.

Writing SEO blogs does not need to be a grind

Like the rollout of a company newsletter that is exciting the first three or four times it is prepared and published, the novelty of blogs begins to wear out after you have gotten into the swing of preparing them.

This “shape-shifting” component of blogs allows you to show the creative side of your business, from what you say in the content portions to the visuals that you employ to make your blog story come to life.

Let us help write your content

At Wellons Communications, we are all about creating content and programs that enable people to connect with your business.

And that includes the writing and preparation of blogs. We come up with ideas, along with adapting other marketing components to fit into your blog (e.g. “Have you seen our latest ads?” along with a story about what your advertising aims at, or “Here’s a sneak preview of what we’re doing in the months to come”).

Blogs, after all, are another form of marketing and communications. And, at Wellons Communications, like our name says, communications are what we do every single day of our business lives.

So, with the 2025 business year moving ahead at full clip, take a new look at your website and ask yourself “What does our blog say about us?” If you are not sure or simply want help in putting an ongoing blog program together for you, contact us at 407-339-0879 or email us at will@wellonscommunications.com.

Let us tell you more about how our “blog work” can help add an exciting, inexpensive, and effective new element to your marketing program.

Marketing and the maritime industry share an important planning characteristic that will never change.

It is the need for sound navigation — the art of determining where you want to go, then finding your way and getting to where you want to arrive.

Since sailors first took to the sea, they have relied on navigation at sea to ensure a vessel’s safe passage, avoid hazards, and reach the intended navigation.

The primary goal of your business is to earn a profit or reach objectives…which, like the mariners, requires avoiding hazards to reach a goal.

No matter whether one is at sea or land, reaching those goals requires solid planning before steering in what you believe to be the right direction.

Many businesses resist research to navigate

According to Thomas Redman, “The Data Doc” who runs Data Quality Solutions, resistance to using data – and the research that generates that data—is surprisingly common.

Often, the first reaction to calling upon research to help guide marketing efforts is “We know our business and don’t need someone else to tell us what to do,” or “We cannot afford it.”

Neither excuse is valid and neither excuse is going to give you a clearer idea of how your marketing program should be shaped.

What kinds of research is available?

You have a choice.

Formal research, which requires an expenditure for the systemic gathering of information and analysis of that the data that results from the research.

Informal research is the observation of people, information, and events as they occur and asking yourself “What does it mean and what does it suggest?” In other words, common sense, based on what you see and hear.

So how can you conduct research…without a big budget?

Remember what Thomas Redman said about the first reaction to research? “It costs a lot.”

Without a research budget, that leaves you with informal research.

The good news is that informal research can be conducted on a budget that uses only a modest amount of time and can still provide significant insights into what your audience is thinking (or not thinking) about the products and services in your particular industry.

Thanks to Google and the internet, secondary research — published information — on your industry is readily available.

If you discover good existing research, you may find it sufficient to use and properly cite for your content marketing objective instead of conducting new research.

A basic internet search or prompts into a generative AI tool can lead to industry association data, libraries, government reports, etc.

Another place to look is right at your fingertips…your business’s internal information, such as marketing stats, sales data, and related information that can be accumulated to provide insights on trends, opportunities and direction.

Other creative ways to conduct research

If secondary research reveals gaps that more formal research could fill, you may want to undertake an original marketing and pr research project. Qualitative research (e.g. personal interviews, focus groups) or a quantitative study (e.g. surveys) or a combination of the two may be useful.

If you have a college or university nearby, you may want to talk to someone in the business school to learn if a marketing class might want to undertake a study on your behalf for a modest grant, plus expenses.

Or, if you have an experienced statistician available, you can explore the notion of conducting a limited survey of existing or potential customers or build in a satisfaction survey that reflects how customers feel about a particular item like customer satisfaction or recommendations.

Research can serve as a powerful resource for all of your marketing initiatives

Earlier, we talked about the maritime industry and its dependence on navigation.

It’s no different with business. Marketing and PR research provides information that allows you to more effectively navigate your business environment.

Whatever information you can share with your marketing team – including your PR resource – will provide direction that will result in more effective marketing and sales.

At Wellons Communications, we value and respect the importance of research

No matter how informal or formal, our PR agency welcomes the availability of research to help make sound decisions on where to invest our time, and our client’s money, to help them get the maximum results from their marketing program.

We can even use your research as news and turn your observations into an authoritative observation that will establish and reinforce your status within your current and potential clients.

If you want to learn more about how you can conduct marketing and PR research on a modest budget, and how that research can serve as a rudder for helping to navigate your marketing program, give us a call and let us help you with the steering.

With publicity, you beat your own drum. You seek recognition from media outlets with coverage providing you with a powerful means of reaching audiences with a message about your product or service. That’s where influencer public relations comes in.

Media, like any sound informational resource, will call on others to validate your message or expand on it.

The folks that the media call upon for backup information or observations are “influencers.” A positive opinion or observation from an influencer can turn a routine publicity effort into a powerful third-party message that can be utilized throughout your entire marketing program.

Said another way, marketing experts believe that the 10 percent who are the most influential spread the message to the other 90 percent.

So, how do you go about getting to these influencers and persuading them to adopt your message?

Influencers need news. And we provide news to them.

Before influencers can work their influential magic, you have to find them.

At Wellons Communications, we use powerful professional database services to assist in distributing information to the media. These services enable us to put together highly targeted news distribution packages that reach key consumers and trade media appropriate for your particular news item.

We also maintain a proprietary list of influencers for each of our clients.

These lists are developed specifically for each client. The list includes influence leaders in their industry whose observations are frequently called upon by media to flesh out a story.

In tourism, for example, our influencer list includes sources that are called upon for observations about vacations, restaurants, entertainment, and travel transportation. This includes travel trade leaders in various associations, regulatory resources, and non-traditional media sources whose observations can reinforce and amplify publicity information.

Depending on the specific message our clients are presenting, we also include the key influencers and let them know what our clients are doing.

What kind of information are they seeking?

Generally, influencers are looking for information that will either reinforce or deny a particular point of view.

For example, if gas prices are declining, will people travel more?

Or they may reflect something new or different within an industry, e.g. a new service or tweak on a new service like increasing acceptance of EMV chips that you insert into a card reader (i.e. contactless payment).

So where do you find them?

Increasingly, influencers are found online. They have their own websites. They have podcasts. They conduct surveys and report what they find.

They do not show up on traditional media lists. Finding them and cataloging them into a database requires research and time. But when the list is assembled, it becomes a valuable add-on tool to your influencer public relations program.

Other sources of influencers are more obvious. They include trade association resources and leaders in services that provide key components to specific industries.

For example, orange growers provide orange juice to grocery stores and restaurants, which qualifies them as experts for observing the effects of weather on the supply of orange juice or the quantity and supply of juice during a particular growing season and how that will affect orange juice pricing.

No matter what, influencers need news to keep up with what’s happening

And they need it at the very same time you issue news so that they can have an opinion or observation about your news.

That’s because, just like you want publicity, the influencers are eager to be called upon by media that value their observations because of their overall market knowledge.

At Wellons Communications, we know how to find and root out the influencers

Want to increase your influence? Give us a call.

We’ll be happy to expand on how we can help influence your overall marketing reach and influence.