How blogs can improve your marketing message

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.

Let research guide your marketing and PR

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.

Influencer Public Relations: Influencing the Influencers

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.

Making news when there is no news

Sometimes you find yourself at a loss at how to find a way to put your product or service into the news.

That means you have to find a way to inject yourself into the news.

So, what do you do when it looks like there is nothing new on the horizon?

Reinforce your benefits and assets

A message that must be repeatedly presented about your product or service and your benefits and the assets that you provide your customers.

If your product is entertainment, then one of your primary benefits is a momentary escape from worries and anxieties: fun and laughter, a mood boost, an escape from the guilt of not having spent enough time with your kids. The solution? Remind folks of the value of spending time together…by sharing an experience (i.e. your entertainment product) that will create memories that will last a lifetime.

If your product is a restaurant, three of your primary benefits are an escape from the kitchen and a change in routine that provides the anticipation of exploring a unique dining environment (or the satisfaction of enjoying a familiar restaurant), new cuisine, and a break in your regular routine. The solution? Capitalize on what your customers like best in your restaurant and remind customers what brings people back to your restaurant over and over again.

So how do your benefits create news? 

That’s where public relations come into play.

Publicity can convey a non-news message in a newsworthy fashion.

How? By presenting what is an old and familiar message in a new and different package.

In the theme park example above, you can capitalize on your benefit (i.e. creating a shared experience) by creating a milestone moment like your millionth visitor or creating a human-interest story by zeroing in on a customer who repeatedly comes to our park to enjoy the surroundings.

In the restaurant example above, you can showcase the benefit of togetherness that your restaurant offers by presenting information that underlines which menu items bring your repeat customers back over and over again. If it’s a dessert item, for example, take advantage of special “days” like National Ice Cream Day every July 20 and advance the day with publicity that offers a special ice cream dish or discount.

At Wellons Communications, we look for the news in your story

Our team of PR specialists are skilled at looking at your product or service and identifying what is newsworthy and creating a way and a means of bring that story to life.

We start by identifying your benefits and assets and figuring out the most effective ways to presenting them to media who can tell – and amplify – your story. At the same time, we look for ways to remind your current clients how they continue to benefit from what you are marketing.

We look for ways to attach your news to other people’s news

If your trade industry is looking for news to promote the industry, we look for stories in your business that can help your trade make its point.

In the theme park business, for example, if FunWorld, the trade journal for IAAPA, the global industry for the attractions industry, is seeking information on what events draw the most visitors to attractions, we will offer information that augments the story and provide FunWorld with your contact information and background information, so they can directly speak with your representative.

In the restaurant industry, for example, if Restaurant Business Magazine is seeking information on which new dishes are becoming more popular in restaurants, we will talk to your chef and see what kinds of dishes we can report to the magazine, along with photos, to help them with their story about new dishes.

And that’s why we insist that before we start spewing news and information on Day One, we don’t start unless we have an agreed-upon public relations plan.

We start by ensuring that we understand what you want to accomplish. We immerse ourselves in your marketing plan to see where PR should fit in. And then we put pencil to paper and develop a plan that we believe will generate the results you want and deserve.

There is always news in your story…. even if you have to dig for it

At Wellons, we are journalistically minded.

We always can find news in what you do, even if you have grown weary of the grinding routine of running and operating your business every day.

But not every business has a PR agency like Wellons Communications at their side that will research what you are doing and use their journalistic skills to dig out not only the obvious news stories but those stories that are not immediately recognizable as news.

We look for the benefits you offer. And we use everything in our playbook to put those benefits and assets in front of your potential customers.

When you are ready to bring experienced storytellers to your side, keep us in mind. And let us help you make news where you least expect it and most want.

The power of repetition and how it can benefit your business

One of the most respected publicists in tourism marketing, Suzanne McGovern, who played a key role within the marketing team that opened Walt Disney World in 1971, had a mantra to which she never let go:  

“Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em…and tell ‘em again and again.” 

That’s because Suzanne was an adherent to the power of repetition.  

She understood the power of developing a simple message and sticking to it. Her strong belief in consistent messaging was instrumental in clarifying what was a new Disney experience awaiting guests in Florida and differentiating Walt Disney World from California’s Disneyland.  

Build a simple message and keep on repeating it 

The power of repetition is in its simplicity. A message heard repeatedly is more likely to stay in your mind. 

According to a Columbia University study 

“…repeating simple words and phrases can convince us that they are true, even if they aren’t. This is partly because we tend to take repetition as a social cue; when we hear something more than once, we are inclined to accept it as true because we think that the rest of the group might also believe it. In addition, we are more likely to believe ideas that come easily to us; therefore, the more familiar we become with words and ideas, the more we will take them to be true.” 2 

Client fatigue 

The first audience that gets tired of message, surprisingly, are the people who project the message.  

For folks like us, at Wellons Communication, that means our clients are often the first to become weary of saying the same thing on a regular basis.   

Some of the standard arguments against repetition3 

  • “It’s too repetitive.” 
  • “Repetition kills the joy of reading or listening or watching.” 
  • “Don’t repeat the same thing over and over.” 
  • “I have said it once, what’s the use of repeating?” 

Because of your close involvement with your message, it is easy to believe that your audience is just as involved as you are. The reality is that it requires repetition to first, reach your audience and, second, maintain continuity of your message to build recognition and trust. 

The rule of 7 

The marketing Rule of 7, simply stated, is a potential customer must see a message at least seven times before they’ll be provoked to take an action. In other words, you have to say what you are going to say a minimum of seven times before your audiences “gets” your message.  

The Rule of 7 has been around since the 1930s when it was used by movie studios. They realized that for people to want to see a movie, they needed to see the advertisement at least seven times. The gist of the Marketing Rule of 7 hasn’t changed in nearly a hundred years, and that’s because it works.4 

Can public relations help you achieve the Rule of 7? 

You bet. But not by itself. 

 No one marketing discipline, whether it’s advertising, PR, promotion, or sales, can achieve the Rule of 7 on its own.  

 It requires a complete marketing campaign to reach the Rule of 7 and continuity to keep the recognition level intact.   

Public relations serves to reinforce – or even lead—marketing efforts. Effective PR builds trust. It adds depth to your marketing program. And, with editorial recognition by a respected media source, public relations it builds respect among your employees, current clients…and potential clients…by putting your message in places that no other marketing discipline will likely reach.  

 Put Wellons Communications to work on repeating your message 

 At the end of each of our blogs, we always repeat the same message: put us to work on your marketing program 

Sure, we’re a public relations firm. But first and foremost, we are marketers. Our sole mission is to help our clients earn the trust…and business…of their customers.  

In short, we exist our clients sell things, whether they are products, services, or ideas. 

So, in the true spirit of repetition, we ask you to give us a call at 407-339-0879 and learn for yourself how we can help you repeat your message and augment your marketing program. 

A special event can fit into your marketing plan…if used wisely

You’ve probably seen the old black-and-white movies featuring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland sitting on the front porch, legs crossed, a puzzled look on their faces as they ponder some kind of challenge, and suddenly one of them excitedly blurts “I know…let’s have a show! Fast cuts, backed up by music, confetti flying, big crowds and happy faces. Sure enough, the “show” — the special event — worked like a charm.

In real life, special events don’t always come out the same as the movies.

They can be enormously time-consuming and, if not properly planned and budgeted, they can wind up being very expensive. Worst of all, they may not produce anything other than a big headache for the client.

Nevertheless, special events do have a place in marketing and public relations, but only if they have clear objectives and realistic expectations.

Why do you want to produce a special event?

In today’s communications-overloaded world, well-produced special events can cut through the clutter and provide publicity focus on a specific feature or moment related to your product or service.

Events have the ability to deliver breakthrough publicity moments. But they must be well-planned and well-produced and possess qualities that can persuade media to generate coverage.

The planning and media persuasion is where Wellons Communications comes into the picture.

What justifies a special event?

Generally, milestone moments offer an opportunity to you to stage an event

Whatever the milestone, it must possess news value that will be important to various audiences, ranging from your current client base to wannabe customers.

If you are launching a new product or service, or introducing a new feature or tweak, a special event might be useful.

If you achieve a milestone moment, a special event can serve to underscore that achievement, like a new service, a new outlet, an anniversary, a new sales record, or an award earned by your business.

How can a special event deliver value?

At their very core, special events deliver great visuals, photos and videos that can be put to use in a variety of marketing channels of communication.

A photo event can attract media coverage with both traditional and trade media, be featured on your website, shared with your client base, and serve to visualize whatever message you are seeking to project.

A more complex event, like a grand opening or new product introduction, requires considerably more planning, rehearsal, and production, but can deliver immediate impact and buzz if properly produced and communicated.

Again, the ability of an event to deliver value will depend entirely on the newsworthiness of what the event is aimed at communicating and the planning and budgeting you put into it.

Wellons Communication has done its fair share of special events

From the grand opening of attractions and restaurants to photo events that bring to life new or special features of a business, Wellons Communications has decades of experience in special event public relations.

From idea development of an event to working with skilled show producers to stage events, our marketing agency has served in virtually all capacities of special event management.

Our results have been, in some cases, astounding. They have attracted national news coverage. They have delivered significant coverage in news media from local media to key trade media.

But prior to generating results, Wellons has served as a key planner for special events, from providing the imagination to produce strong visuals to reaching media well in advance (and afterward) to deliver significant publicity results.

We come up with ideas. We budget and plan. We help find the necessary professional help to make your event come to life (e.g. musicians, banners and signing, invitations, food and beverage, research to ensure no conflict with other newsworthy events) and serve as the publicity resource that justifies all the time and expense you put into the event.

So, when your moment has come, call on Wellons Communications.

Like Mickey and Judy in the movies, “Let’s have a show!” Only a show that works in real life.

What’s your elevator pitch?

Whatever product or service you are marketing, it’s the most important product service in the world…to you. That’s because your livelihood depends on successfully marketing it.

The importance of what you market brings us to attention spans; the all-important length of time you have to grab someone’s attention.

You have less than 10 seconds to capture and hold someone’s attention.

Try these facts on for size:

  • The average human attention span is only 8.25 seconds, which is less than the goldfish’s 9-second attention span.
  • The average adult internet user’s attention span is 8.25 seconds, influenced by the increasing distractions on the internet, social media, and the environment.
  • The average attention span of a human has decreased significantly over the years, from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013.

With attention spans diminishing, the importance of keeping your message clear, simple, and direct has never been more important.

Seconds count: the importance of a good elevator speech.

If you had all the time in the world, talking about what you sell would be no problem. But you don’t. You are limited on time. There is no room for redundancy or lack of clarity.

In short, if you fail to capture your audience’s attention, the rest of your messaging may as well not happen

So…to keep up with shortening attentions, our answer is the elevator speech

An elevator speech is a short message conveying who you are, what you do and the value your product or service brings to your audience. It is one of the most effective ways to promote your personal brand and one of the simplest, most powerful tools for any marketer.

When you combine the importance of an effective elevator speech with the lessening of attention spans, it means your message’s first eight seconds are critical to connecting with your audience.

Wellons uses elevator speeches to pitch media.

At Wellons Communications, one of the first things we do for our clients is to create an elevator speech that we can use to pitch media about our clients. That’s because we only have eight seconds to get the attention of media, who are bombarded with pitches and story idea from folks like us.

While we have eight seconds to capture attention, we have about 30 seconds to augment what we have established in the first eight seconds.

Good news: the same elevator speech has greater value that simply pitching to media. It can be used to convey what you do (and why it’s newsworthy or important) to virtually anyone…particularly potential customers. 

At Wellons, we use elevator speeches to pitch media

Our first objective in pitching media is to ensure that our message has value to whomever we are pitching. Media want to hear pitches that are newsworthy and have some connection to the audience they service.  So…our elevator speech is tailored to the journalist we are pitching.

Here are a couple of examples of elevator speeches we use to pitch stories to media:

I’m Will with Wellons Communications, in Florida. I want to offer you a story idea that we believe will connect with your readers (or viewers or listeners). It’s about how technology is making it easier for attorneys to research information that can reduce hours and make it more affordable to clients to use their legal services.

I’m Lauren with Wellons Communications, an Orlando PR firm. We have come across a story idea that has characteristics that lend themselves to your news outlet. It’s about how changes in tourism in Florida have changed since the peak of COVID in 2020.

So, what would a typical elevator speech look or sound like?

A short elevator speech will include five key elements: an introduction, a definition of the challenges of the target audience, a reference to how to solve the challenge, why you are best suited to solve that challenge, and a call to action.

Here are a couple of examples…in response to “What do you do?”

I’m with Daily Grind, a coffee marketer. We coordinate the delivery of high-quality coffee beans to coffee shops throughout North America. We save money for our clients by arranging transport of coffee beans from directly from growers who can roast coffee beans on site and ship them directly to the coffee shop.

I’m with Little Thrills, a recently opened tourist attraction in Florida. We offer guests more than 30 fun, totally safe, rides that are crafted to allow parents and children to both enjoy a fun experience together. It’s brand new and well within the budget of most families.

Both elevator speeches are short, to the point, and include a value proposition.

Work with Wellons to create your elevator speech

How’s your elevator speech? Do you use one? Do all of your employees know what it is? Do they use it too?

Our PR agency is happy to set you up with an elevator speech program that starts with an appropriate elevator speech and by expanding the elevator speech throughout your organization, ensuring that all of your employees to use the same elevator speech with consistency and pride in your organization.

Call us and tell us more about your business…and try your elevator speech out on us!

Make your onscreen messages count

Public relations is rooted in effective communications. And, in today’s society, communications increasingly reflects what people see and hear on the internet.   

Consider these statistics: 

  • The average American spends seven hours and four minutes looking at a screen each day. Gen Z averages even more time…nine hours of screen time each day.
  • In the past decade, daily screen time has increased nearly 50 minutes per day.
  • Recent figures suggest the average person spends upwards of 40 percent of their waking hours on an internet-connected screen.
  • The general average time spent on a website is53 seconds.

 So, what does all that screen time mean? 

The increasing amount of time that your audience is gazing at a screen means that you are fighting for attention with a powerful new medium that less than three decades ago was just finding its “sea legs.”  

Traditional media — television, print, and radio – no longer rule the communications world. Today, we can find basic information on almost anything with a Google search or, with a few more clicks, obtain detailed information on a particular subject.  

What this means is that your onscreen messaging must communicate quickly and effectively.  

At Wellons Communication, here some basic that we employ to augment our client’s online marketing communications: 

Know what your audience is seeking. 

Before you can begin to make your website more effective, you have a clear understanding of what your target market wants and needs.   

Why do they come to your website? What has worked well? What has not worked?  What onscreen information draws the most comments or generates the most sales? 

Once you know what your audience wants and needs, it makes your communications messaging considerably easier and more effective.  

For example, by defining the audience’s problem – and serving up your service as the solution –you immediately connect with your audience.  

Get right to the point.  

When your website visitor arrives at your web page, the two things they look at first are your heading and your first bloc of text.  

If your headlines and introductory copy blocs are off target, visitors will bounce off the page right away. Make it incredibly clear what value you’re offering, what question you’re answering and establish yourself as the best solution. 

If you deliver valuable information right away, you build trust with your website visitor, which means they will remain on your website for a longer period. 

Let images, graphics, and video tell your story.  

Images are critical for engagement. Just adding video to a blog, for example, will see an increase most engagement metrics by a factor of four.

If you are just starting, our PR agency can help you find free stock images, while remembering to check the copyrights for the image and give credit where credit is due.  

 The most effective way to add graphics to your website is to utilize a professional graphic designer to create custom images, icons, and graphics in your branded colors for your site. 

So how can Wellons help you with your online communications? 

We are professional communicators who are skilled in populating your website with words and stories, images and graphics, that serve as an extension of your overall marketing program.  

We create stories. We create blogs. We arrange to get professional photographers and videographers to create imagery to complement the words.  

And we do it at prices that are affordable, but equal to the task at hand and helping you augment your overall marketing.  

Call us at Wellons Communications and learn more about how we can add the dimension of publicity and public relations to not only your website, but your overall marketing program. 

What you need to do to hire a PR firm

When it comes time to hire a PR firm, it is surprising how few businesses spend much time preparing a brief about their enterprise so that the PR firm can present a meaningful approach to addressing their needs.

In many instances, particularly if the business is hiring a PR firm for the first time, businesses do little, if anything, to define what it is they want to accomplish or define the scope of the assignment.

It’s not because they are lazy or incompetent. It is simply because they have never gone through the process of hiring a firm and are not acquainted with what is involved in preparing the PR company to fully address the PR needs of their business.

At Wellons Communications, we have encountered clients who have provided us with well-thought-out documents that clearly spell out what they need to have done.

And, at the other end of the spectrum, we have encountered would-be clients whose approach to hire a PR firm is “Okay, whaddya gonna do for us,” without giving providing relevant input as to what they want to accomplish other than “We need PR.”

The point to remember is that hiring a PR agency is not a beauty pageant.

Think of hiring a PR firm as adding a highly specialized professional to your staff, and treat the hiring process in the same fashion you would use to hire a key employee.

What to include in a PR brief?

A PR brief about your business does not need to be lengthy. A couple of pages will do the trick. From the PR firm’s point of view, the type of information that will be relevant includes:

  • Your business objectives
  • Where your brand/business currently resides in your business category
  • Where you your brand/business to reside
  • Key audiences (Who are your customers? Who are your potential customers? What customers are the best targets for your marketing success?)
  • Key competitors
  • Issues and considerations that the firm will have to consider, e.g. seasonality, budget restraints, history of your business, industry considerations.
  • Any current or relevant market research or background information
  • Other marketing activity you are conducting (advertising, promotion, sales)
  • Time frame (start dates, special event dates, peaks, and valleys in your business’s normal operations)
  • Budget considerations: state a specific budget or provide a realistic budget range that would be comfortable for you.

What about the process of hiring a PR firm?

Generally, hiring a PR firm is a three-step process.

The first step is to research which PR firms appear to be affordable and best suited to your needs.

If your business is totally local, firms based close to home might be the best answer. If your enterprise revolves around one industry (e.g. tourism, legal, accounting, manufacturing), then the PR firms you invite to pitch might be firms that already possess experience in your industry.

The second step would be a preliminary meet and greet to get acquainted with a principal of the firm and outline your needs and expectations.

Based on the preliminary meetings, decide which firms you want to present for your business and provide a timeline and your PR brief. Allow a couple of weeks for the agency to prepare to address you with a formal presentation.

The final step would be a presentation by the agency, outlining how they would approach your assignment and introduce the individual(s) that would serve as your PR account team.

During the interim period between the initial meeting and the presentation, if agencies ask additional questions after having received your PR brief, answer them promptly and with care. Remember their entire approach for you may depend on your answers.

If one agency asks to meet up a second time prior to the presentation do not feel you are giving them an unfair advantage by doing so. They are simply being keen and proactive. If all the agencies are able to compete on a level playing field, you are being perfectly fair.

So, what are your next steps?

If you do not have a public relations agency and want to expand your marketing to include public relations, then consider Wellons Communications.

We will be happy to discuss more about what you need to do to locate and hire a PR firm…and, of course, we hope you will consider us in your search.

We have decades of experience in a variety of industries and are well-versed in consumer marketing, business-to-business trade communications and, if needed, crises communications.

PR and its role in helping you achieve business objectives

Ask yourself “In the big picture of my profession or business, what do I want public relations to accomplish for me?” 

Some of the main goals of public relations are to create, maintain, and protect the organization’s reputation, enhance its prestige, and present a favorable image. And, for the vast majority of organizations, to earn a profit. 

If you are a commercial organization, the most obvious reason you want PR in your marketing mix is to drive sales 

If you are a non-profit or an organization that is not sales-dependent, then you want PR to sell ideas. 

What are your public relations objectives? 

Too often, marketing and communications leaders say they have a PR plan.  

And that plan often becomes a “to-do” list of tactics that lack objectives and strategies.   

Start by creating clearly defined PR objectives.  

Part of the challenge is in achieving clarity between PR goals, objectives, strategy, and tactics.  

In some manner, they all refer to “what you want to achieve.” So, they’re interchangeable, right?  

No! The difference is critical. Each planning element plays a different role in mapping out how you approach achievement of your objective. It’s much more than semantics.  

An example of how goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics result in a plan 

If you are football coach, what is your goal? To win as many games as possible.  

Then, what is your objective? To outscore the opposition in each game. 

Okay, if you want to win the game, then what is your strategy?  

Your strategic direction will, of course, depend on your assets. If you have a terrific offense and a poor defense, then your guiding strategy might be “Ball control. Keep the ball out of the hands of the other team’s offense.”  

Having established that your offense will be key to your success, you would shape your tactics to overcome the other team’s defense. Your tactics (a sort of  “to-do” list) might be something like keeping control of the ball longer by running the ball more than passing or employing short passes, rather than long passes, to maintain control of the football. 

PR should complement your overall marketing effort 

Okay, let’s go beyond football — where objectives, strategy, and tactics are more difficult to develop. 

The PR component of your business should bolster your overall marketing plan (which should have the same basic elements as your PR plan).  

Orchestrating your marketing plan means coordinating advertising, public relations, sales, promotion, and research in a concerted direction to accomplish your marketing goals.  

The elements of your marketing plan should point toward the same objectives.  

Your strategies will depend on variables that include: 

Budget: How much do I need to spend to achieve effective levels of communication? How much money is available for marketing? What is the best use of my budget? 

Influencing factors: What does my competition spend for marketing? How do they spend it? What do they say? How are they priced? Is there seasonality that needs to be considered?  

Research: What does my audience want? Or need?  

Market environment: What opportunities exist for marketing my product or idea? What challenges will I face in marketing my product or idea? What are the best locations for my product or idea (physical location or placement of product or idea)? 

When you step back and address all of this, your marketing plan, and it’s PR component, more clearly presents itself.  

We can help you with marketing public relations 

If you have a marketing plan, our PR firm can shape a PR plan for you that will affordably complement your overall marketing efforts.  

If you don’t have a PR plan, we can help you create and implement a program that will augment your overall marketing…at a cost you can afford.  

Our efforts will be marketing-directed. While we applaud and agree with the notion that PR should help boost your reputation and be looked upon favorably, we are bulldogs about adhering to the notion that PR is most effectively used to help you to sell things and ideas.  

Look over your marketing plan and ask yourself “Can my plan be improved by an infusion of cost-effective, affordable PR?”.  

If so, then give us a call. Put Wellons Communications to work for you to develop and implement a PR plan that will boost your overall marketing efforts. 

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