Tag: marketing

What’s ahead for marketing and PR in 2021?

Posted on by Wellons team

The new year is almost upon us and, with the pandemic still raging full-bore, it is challenging to try and look too far ahead.

As difficult as it is to forecast the future, making preparations for what we can reasonably believe will happen in the upcoming months is a must. None among us, of course, has the ability to precisely predict, for example, how consumers will respond when COVID vaccination peaks in the springtime or how businesses will respond to a new presidency.

There are, however, certain characteristics we consider as we develop marketing and public relations approaches for the immediate future.

Recognize the increased emphasis on health and safety

A recent Consumer Index Report by Ernst & Young reports that 26% of consumers surveyed prefer brands and products they trust to be safe and minimize unnecessary risks. Fifty-seven percent say they now pay more attention to how healthy the products they buy are for them.

So how does this translate to your business?

First of all, it means that consumers will continue, at least until they feel less threatened by COVID, to deal remotely. Projected even further, that means that your business must make it as easy as possible for your customers to do business with you. Outdated software or barriers for people to reach you or conduct business with you can be a deterrent to retaining existing customers or attracting new customers.

Upgrade your ability to connect with your customers online

According to an eMarkerter report from June, the average U.S. adult will spend 23 more minutes on smartphones per day in 2020—and that was in June!

We are socializing, working, shopping, and more—online. It’s not just Gen Z and Millennials anymore; it is all of us.

Though digital fatigue is real, there are certain digital experiences to which consumers are growing increasingly accustomed, like buying online and picking up in a store, curbside pickup or home delivery. Your website and social channels are now the front door to your brand or business. Looking ahead into 2021, this may translate to tactics like brief virtual events, online channels and creating video content to tell your story more effectively.

Keep you staff’s tech skills equal to those of your customers

The COVID threat has accelerated behaviors with a speed that no one could have forecast. Business professionals routinely conduct Zoom meetings, and youngsters attend classes without showing up in a classroom. People attend exercise classes online and talk to their doctors in virtual visits. The scale and magnitude of these changes is absolutely staggering.

This huge shift in behavior means your employees, particularly those who are in frequent contact with your customers, need to clearly understand how to work the levers of tech interaction.

So how to upgrade your staff’s tech skills?

Some people are resistant to new technology because they don’t see how it’s any better than the current system. Your employees may be thinking, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The problem with that attitude is that they may not realize how broken the current system is.

If you want your workforce to be more tech savvy, you have to make them want to be more tech savvy. It’s never easy to get people to do things they don’t want to do.

Start by showing them how your technology will make their jobs easier. Just saying it will benefit them may not be enough.

Have them work side-by-side with someone who has embraced the technology. Your tech-savvy employees can demonstrate how easy it is to use and how it will simplify their job.

And, finally, look to the future with confidence

All of us want to return to “normal,” but, realistically, we must recognize that “normal,” will never be the same at it was before COVID.

Even after suffering through the ravages of a pandemic that none of us ever could have anticipated, Americans still possess a tough, resilient spirit that is seeing us through a period of uncertainty.

Given the exceptional abilities that have made our nation the leader of the free world, we find a way to create and prosper in a new normal.

No one, of course, can accurately predict what a new normal will look like, but by examining and responding to trends that are manifesting themselves in the marketing world, we can be better prepared for what is coming and how to adjust to it.

Happy holidays to all and a safe and prosperous 2021

We wish all of you a happy – and safe – holiday season. And we join each of you in hoping that we turn the corner toward an even more positive life as we will know it once the pandemic is behind us.

Marketing the holidays: 5 quick and easy ways you can reach customers this holiday season

Posted on by Wellons team

It seems like every year, the holidays creep closer and closer up the calendar. You may have even walked into a big box store recently to be greeted by a display of trees and lights—all before Halloween.

But whatever your thoughts on premature cheer, the early displays might have one upside. It’s a good reminder that you should already be planning your strategy for reaching your customers this holiday season.

Before the weight of anxiety settles upon you, let us say that this doesn’t have to be complicated—but you should do it. Q4 is a key time for many businesses, and a little foresight, combined with creative thinking and simple execution, can make a big difference for your bottom line. Here are five quick and easy ways you can reach customers this holiday season, whatever your strategy.

Social media

This tactic probably isn’t a surprise. People these days spend so much time scrolling on their phones, and social is a natural way to reach customers. But your efforts don’t have to stop with plenty of organic posts touting your product or end-of-year sale. Put on your thinking cap and come up with a creative campaign themed to the holidays. Dive into the season of giving with giveaways, partnered with favorite brands or influencers. Or, run a retargeting campaign so your customers see your product at every turn and can quickly check it off their gift list.

Email marketing

You (hopefully) use a robust email list all year long to reach your customers. But, at a busy time like the holidays, it doesn’t hurt to up the messaging and try to stand out. Plan a countdown campaign, with gift ideas every day leading up to Christmas, or launch a contest with eye-catching, lucrative prizes people actually want to win. And don’t forget to segment. Offer tiered discounts and perks to your best customers to drive serious sales and nurture those relationships.

Traditional PR

Don’t sleep on the power of true PR. Having your product included in a gift guide, whether it’s an influential trade publication or a popular website, can be a grand slam in terms of holiday sales as people are searching for ideas. Even sending samples to great influencers or bloggers in your space for a gift guide feature can help you both reach new audiences and bolster SEO, which can support the bottom line.

Holiday cards

You get them every year from family and friends and maybe send your own. Why not do the same for your business? Especially if you’re on the B2B side of things, a card from your team can add a personal touch and let clients and prospective clients alike know you’re thinking about them this holiday season. Like this idea? Now is the time to order.

Personalized gifts

When it comes to holiday marketing, it’s easy to think about customer acquisition. But don’t forget about some of your best customers—your current clients! For those involved in business to business industries, a personalized gift to some of your best contacts, or even some highly qualified leads, can help you stand out among the noise in a highly busy, highly competitive season. Whether it’s a gift basket, piece of marketing swag, a digital gift card (perfect in the time of COVID) or even a donation to charity in their name, a personalized gift is a high-touch show of customer service and can bolster your relationship.

With a little planning, the holiday season can be a huge opportunity for any business. But you shouldn’t let it stop there. While you’re at it, work to incorporate these tactics into a 2021 marketing plan, pinpointing key dates that make sense for your business—and keep the holiday cheer rolling throughout the new year.

Need some extra bandwidth to make it happen this year? Wellons Communications is your Orlando marketing agency, and we’re here to help. Give Will a call at (407) 462-2718 or shoot him an email at will@wellonscommunications.com. 

Use visual storytelling to make your message stand out

Posted on by Wellons team

The competition for your attention has never been so fierce.

From the time your alarm goes off and you check the news to the moment you check tomorrow’s weather and click the television remote before going to sleep, you are deluged with messaging. And by messaging, we mean all kinds of information—advertising, news and anything else designed to capture your attention.

The fact is we are receiving more information than any other time in recorded history, primarily due to the onset of the internet and the sheer volume of information that can be generated and distributed through digital and mobile communications.

The end result: we begin to ignore or tune out messaging and information.

And that neatly presents the challenge we face as professional communicators: how to make your message stand out and distinguish who you are, what you do, and how well you do it.

Pictures are, indeed, worth a thousand words.

Let’s take a quick glance at some pictures to make our point. This is an instantly recognizable visual cue. It needs no words to clearly explain its meaning.

Here’s another example: it illustrates our point about the exponential growth of messaging that bombards us daily:

The meaning is pretty clear. The number of advertising messages to which we are exposed every day has doubled in the past 13 years.

This example is a little more complex:

This example uses words, in combination with a powerful graphic, to convey the notion that “thoughts” can result in a “change.”

The overwhelming importance of using graphics to project your message

The majority of your potential clients get to know you by your graphics. Your logo. Your letterhead. The sign on your door. The graphic on your website. Even the graphic design on the cup of coffee you may be sampling while you read this.

For those who are already doing business with you, the relationship is far greater than graphics, of course. But, for those whom you want to serve, graphics are often the first step in making an acquaintance.

The things you interact with every day were all created by a graphic designer. These elements communicate an idea or concept—that’s the purpose of graphic design. It’s the graphic designer’s job to marry creativity and strategy in order to effectively communicate with the world around them.

Our Orlando marketing agency relies on graphics to make your customers relate to you

Our digital marketing agency practioners are huge believers in blending your ideas with visual elements that make your ideas come to life.

Photos. Videos. Charts. Illustrations. Cartoons. Website graphics. Postcards. Signage. There is no graphic expression that is off the table.

If a graphic can tell your story without a thousand words, so much the better. We are firm believers in infographics to capture attention. And we utilize creatively talented resources to help make your messages come to life and convey ideas that will attract attention and make your product or service pop.

Picture this: Call on Wellons Communications to convey your message

We describe what we do as marketing public relations. We specialize in public relations aimed at selling a product, service or idea. After all, isn’t that why you are in business?

If you are seeking a new, fresh way to cut through the white noise of the informational messages that hammer away at us every single minute, then consider calling Wellons Communications, an Orlando marketing agency, for solutions.

You talk. We’ll listen. And after we’ve listened, we’ll respond with recommendations and ideas that will be tailored specifically to the wants and needs of your potential customers…and aimed at helping your business grow and succeed.

Now, how’s that for a picture?

Contact me at 407-339-0879 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com and find out more about how we can serve you.

Tips for starting an influencer marketing program

Posted on by Wellons team

You’ve probably heard of influencer marketing before. Maybe the term brings to mind visions of Kylie Jenner sharing a product she loves on Instagram, and it seems out of reach for your business.

But to be honest, that’s just not true. There are options within influencer marketing for many types of businesses. You just have to find the right fit for you—and get started.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing blends the ideas of traditional advertising, public relations and celebrity endorsements. It involves working with a brand or person who has influence in your space, likely on social media or a digital platform, to drive awareness for your brand and/or drive sales.

The sticking point for many people is that they envision these elusive influencers as celebrities with millions of followers. But influencer marketing can also mean working with what are known as micro influencers—a somewhat misleading term for influencers who have a smaller following, but who speak to a specific niche and have very engaged fans. These influencers might reach fewer people, but they tend to give you a bigger bang for your buck.

How to develop an influencer marketing strategy for your business

In short, influencers can make a big difference for you (we’ve seen it!), whether your business is a nationwide product or a local restaurant, drawing new fans to your pages and property and building that bottom line. You just have to find the right fit for you. Want to learn how? To start, you need to think long and hard about your brand and your goals. Check out our best tips below.

Define your goals. As with most things in business, you need to go in with eyes wide open as to what you want. Do you want to drive SEO results for your company with seeded keywords? You might want to focus on bloggers rather than social influencers. Do you want to reach young people with a wow-worthy, trendy product? Maybe TikTok is for you. Do your users have a big Instagram community? Maybe Instagram influencer marketing is the best way for people to discover your product.

This decision is going to drive all others—and ultimately determine how happy you are with the results—so choose wisely.

Outline the ops. Before you actually start working with an influencer, it’s a good idea to work out what that will look like. How will you package your product (special touches might stand out!)? How will the influencer check into the hotel or make their restaurant reservation, and how will you communicate to staff what’s going to happen?

At this stage, you will also want to think about budget. Many of the best influencers have a media kit outlining their rates for things like a blog post or social story. Others will accept products or experiences—depending on the value—in exchange for a reasonable scope. Some businesses also offer affiliate benefits for partners, allowing them to earn a commission on sales. Decide what your budget will be for this campaign and how you will handle it.

Find your fit. Now comes the fun part. Get on your chosen platform and do some research. Find the go-to influencers in your space. Explore hashtags, or check out other brands you admire to see who they work with. Do a quick search. When you find someone you think is a fit, look deeper. What kinds of things do they post? How many followers do they have? What is their engagement rate, and who is their target audience? Make sure they have enough sway with the right people to help you reach your goals, and make sure they’re someone with whom you want to align your brand.

Make it happen. Find your chosen influencer’s contact info and shoot them an email or just reach out on their popular platform. Outline what you’re thinking, and see if it aligns with their vision and standards. It might help to draw up an informal influencer agreement outlining what both sides can expect for the partnership. If this is a paid partnership with a big budget, you might even draw up a contract, like you would with any other ad deal. Be sure to ask influencers to follow all guidelines regarding disclosures. It can also be helpful to provide your influencer with your own media kit, especially if there are certain messaging points you’d really like to hit. Influencers will often pull from this so they can give their followers reliable information, and it can support your overall branding goals.

Track and reuse. Your influencer received your product, loved it and shared. They came to your resort and wrote a glowing blog. They visited your restaurant and posted a swoon-worthy pic on Insta or video on TikTok. Amazing! Now, you need to see if your program worked. Follow up with your influencer about their experience (you are, hopefully, building a relationship, after all!). Ask them to provide any internal stats they might have about performance (page views, reach, etc.). Take a look yourself at your web traffic or social analytics and see what can be tied to the partnership. This will all help guide you in future influencer partnerships.

And don’t forget a vital step—reuse this influencer content wherever you can. Influencers produce some amazing content for your brand, and you should be engaging with it, reposting it to your page and sharing blogs and vlogs to make the most of your partnership.

Influencer marketing can work for you

Now that you have the steps, tweak and repeat. Despite the sometimes bad rep influencer marketing gets, when done correctly, it can be a great thing for your business.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the prospect of starting from scratch? Call in the pros. At Wellons Communications, we’ve put our PR savvy to work for years building influencer programs for everything from national products to local restaurants. We understand how the process works and have built great relationships with all kinds of influencers. We’d love to put our know-how to work for you. Give us a call at 407-339-0879 or email will@wellonscommunications.com, and let us get started working for your busines

How PR can help you get ahead in today’s E-commerce marketing environment

Posted on by Wellons team

The shift toward an E-economy arrived with bewildering speed during the past decade. While it did not catch businesses off guard, E-marketing surprised many with the speed by which it overtook traditional marketing processes.

Now, with the entrenched presence of the COVID pandemic for the next year or so, E-commerce has become not just another adjunct to your marketing program, but, for many, the primary means of reaching customers.

It’s important to recognize that E-commerce has advanced well beyond simply initiating a Search Engine Optimization program and hoping you show up in generic Google searches. It’s an ever-changing process that is the marketing program for many businesses.

E-commerce, however, is not a one-trick pony.

It requires marketing agility, the necessary resources required to gain a foothold in the E-commerce battleground, and the know-how to present one’s values and benefits to customers so the business can jump off the page and become recognizable…and wanted.

E-commerce success demands more than digital outflow

Successful digital marketing requires a mix of activities, not all of them online. You need communications that will reach and attract your potential customers before they head to their computer screen.

We’re talking about the kind of activity that will build online interest in your brand, products or services and draw people to your site. This could be special events, attention-getting visuals, storytelling in a compelling fashion, news, information only you can deliver, or best of all, having the story told by someone who already has an online following.

Next, your digital marketing needs to make customers want to continue to return to your site.

But it can’t end there.

Your online marketing needs to engage prospective customers so they not only recognize what you do and what you stand for but want to buy your product or service.

Is your E-commerce approach still fresh…or is it getting tired?

Even if you are an E-commerce veteran, you need to constantly review how you are doing things to ensure your E-commerce marketing is firing on all cylinders.

Your approach to E-commerce marketing and communications cannot remain static.

You have to maintain a balancing act of familiarity, like your logo and your headline, along with something fresh and new that signals that you are in tune with whatever changes your industry is experiencing and reflective of your ability to remain in touch with what’s around the next corner.

Amplify your E-commerce marketing with a strong PR program

Most often, our clients call on us to develop and implement aggressive media relations programs to support their keyword strategy and boost their site’s performance on search engines.

We rely on building a focused, multi-faceted communications program that calls attention to their keywords and aggressively addresses those niches where those keywords have the most potential to augment someone’s message…like appearing in an influential blog or a magazine article.

But there’s a lot more to PR than simply reinforcing keywords.

We seek out and create opportunities for others to present you in a credible, favorable manner people will want to view … and Google will rank. And, when we capitalize on these opportunities, there’s the added benefit of of countering Google’s changing ever-changing algorithms.

No black hat nonsense, or SEO “experts” seeding your content onto poor websites to chase backlinks.

We are talking simple, easy-to-understand, practical distribution of information and ideas to sources like bloggers, vloggers, traditional media and influence leaders who will understand the value and importance of your message at a glance and want to share it with their audiences.

Messaging and communications are where PR comes into the picture

From employment of visualization using photos and video to special events, PR can serve as a springboard to generate attention both inside and outside of E-commerce channels of communication.

PR can reinforce what you are all about and amplify your messaging through news and communications outlets beyond your normal scope. PR can serve as a different kind of driving force to direct people to your website so they can learn more about you and see what you can offer them.

The cost is relatively inexpensive, particularly when it compares with paid advertising, which online readers recognize and often bypass, to get to whatever subject is most important to them.

Look at your E-commerce marketing with a fresh set of eyes

Even if you are well-versed in E-commerce, it doesn’t hurt to take another look at what you’re doing.

E-commerce has advanced and will only continue to do so. The pandemic has brought that to light more clearly than ever before.

Our approach? Developing and executing awareness-building programs that encourage online readers to put your company straight into their search bar.

We maximize E-commerce marketing efforts by clearly identifying and establishing those qualities that what make you special: your expertise, authority, personality and ability to deliver. And, once we attract reader attention, we aim toward making your potential customers feel completely confident in buying from you—and in recommending you to others.

Find out more about how we can help you energize your E-marketing.

Email me at will@wellonscommunications.com (or call me… 407-339-0879) and let’s talk about how we can add new life to your digital marketing.

Beyond the elevator speech: Five questions you need to answer for your business

Posted on by Wellons team

We’ve all heard the importance of having an “elevator speech” that tells your audience what you do and how important your product or service is to them.

We at Wellons Communications agree with the idea of a short, punchy message. However, we also believe that you need to work on and perfect a more robust message than a 15-second elevator speech to truly explain the value you bring to your clientele.

With that in mind, at Wellons Communications, we ask our clients five important questions that help define the messages they want to project … and the impressions they want to create.

The Big Five are:

  • What do you do?
  • How does your product or service help your client?
  • What do your competitors say about themselves?
  • What distinguishes your product or service from your competitors?
  • Who and where are your potential customers?

Build from the basics

Surprisingly, many business leaders have a difficult time answering these five questions.

They have successfully grown their businesses to the point where they need to expand their marketing program — including public relations — to continue growth. However, when it comes to more precisely defining themselves and what they do for the audiences they serve, they run into challenges.

They know they need to continue reaching out, but struggle to find the ways and means to reach new and different audiences in order to continue expanding sales and growth.

PR is part of your overall marketing package

We view public relations as one of the four primary components of our client’s marketing programs: paid advertising, public relations, sales and research.

Our job centers around publicity management — attracting attention or, in some cases, clarifying and shaping the attention that is defining our clients. That requires us to interact, for the most part, with editorial media, whose independence means their viewpoints and opinions cannot be purchased but can certainly be shaped and influenced with proper messaging.

That means we have to know about you, your business category, your audience, your competitors and what you want to accomplish.

And that means that we need to know the answers to The Big Five questions listed above.

Sometimes, less is better

When we first meet with potential clients, we always ask the Big Five questions.

Often, these potential clients struggle to concisely and clearly answer the Big Five. And, while we listen closely to what we are told, we often learn that the longer a potential client takes to answer these questions, the more difficult it is to concisely and clearly answer the question.

Our first priority is to clearly understand what you do and what you want to do. That means asking tough questions and boiling the answers down to strategic approaches that will result in messaging that your audience can understand and act upon.

The end result may appear to be a very simple solution. But reaching a simple solution requires some complex planning and hard work to achieve.

We think like marketers. We act like PR professionals

If a client were to ask us The Big Five, our answers are:

What do you do?

We provide publicity and related communications services that augment our clients’ overall marketing.

How does your product or service help your client?

We help our clients increase sales by reaching their target audiences with clear, concise messaging that amplifies their reach beyond advertising.

What do your competitors say about themselves?

Our competitors most often claim they are bigger, more experienced, have a larger client base and have greater depth in resources.

What distinguishes your product or service from your competitors?

We are smaller and, because we are smaller, we provide more personalized, hands-on services that are more creative, more nimble and more effective than our larger competitors.

Who and where are your potential customers?

The vast majority of our potential customers are based, or have significant operations, in the Central Florida region. Some of them are in tourism, hospitality and food and beverage and others are in real estate, development, legal and related business categories.

How would you answer The Big Five?

Ask yourself how you would answer the five questions listed above. If you find you have difficulty clearly and concisely answering them, it may be a signal that you have grown to the point that you need some help to augment your marketing program, particularly in the public relations area.

If you’d like to share your answers with us, we’d be eager to hear them. And we would be eager to learn if your business — and ours — would be a good fit.

Want to learn more?

Call or email me (407-339-0879 or will@wellonscommunications.com) and let’s talk.

Or, better yet, you talk… and I’ll listen.

Are you too much in love with social media?

Posted on by Wellons team

Social media—and its hold on businesses that are seeking to sell to those millions of fans—has dramatically changed how we market to wanna-be clients.

Businesses like to call on social media because it is relatively inexpensive, allows rapid formulation of messages and makes it easy to distribute information.

But how effective is social media? Does it really sell things and ideas? Or is it more “white noise” in a world where communications have become overloaded?

Social media’s sheer volume offers opportunities to influence customers 

Consider this: According to Social Media Today, “…. (the) total time spent on social media beats time spent eating and drinking, socializing, and grooming.”

That’s a lot of time. And that huge chunk of everyone’s daily life offers a tremendous marketing opportunity. But simply lobbing information on an indiscriminate basis without an organized plan and strategy is not the answer.

Because social media is so prevalent, businesses in love with social media often spew out tons of information that may not, in fact, be “share-worthy” or even interesting. That leads to less-than-satisfactory (or no) results and wastes the time and energy of the business.

In short, there’s more to it than simply “Let’s post a lot of news, information, and graphics on Facebook and Instagram.”

Social media CAN work, but only if it is based on newsworthy information

Cision, who prospered for decades as a leading press release distribution company, has morphed to a distributor of information via electronic resources.

Even though the means of distribution has changed, Cision has never varied from its belief that whatever information is shared, it has to have some value to both the reader and the organization that is issuing the news.

Cision’s philosophy is encapsulated the still-relevant article 7 PR mistakes to avoid in 2017. The theme of the article can be summed up in two ideas: you have to distribute information to reach your audience and your information has to be relevant.

So how do we approach social media at Wellons Communications?

We still subscribe to the old 5 W’s—who, what, when, where, why and how—but supported by modern technology and adjusted to fit prevailing attitudes.

When you put the new technology and attitudes aside, it still comes down to  clearly identifying who can use your information, when they can use it, and clearly stating and explaining why your message matters.

How we go about that is more complex. How and what revolves around putting together a well-thought out plan that integrates messaging and timing and generates results…. all without breaking your bank

We certainly believe social media is paramount in today’s communications environment.

But we look at social media as a means of distribution, not the “magic bullet” that makes people buy products, services and ideas. Posting information on the Internet doesn’t necessarily mean sales will skyrocket. It simply means you have distributed information.

At Wellons Communications, we take a total approach to public relations. We recognize the power of social media, but we also understand the value of traditional public relations, marketing, content, SEO and more.

They all work together to move the needle for clients, and no one plan fits all. There is only one plan that works—and that plan is the one that is best suited to accomplish your marketing goals, within your budget, and delivering the kinds of results that will enable your profitability and success.

Social media is more than likely part of that plan—but if you’re only doing that, and if you don’t have a clear idea of why, it may be time to rethink the relationship.

As you plan ahead and seek to more actively involve public relations in your overall marketing, keep Wellons Communications in mind.

We’re mindful that you only have so much money to invest in marketing and eager to help you use PR to serve as an affordable and reliable means of augmenting and strengthening your overall marketing program.

How would Santa use public relations?

Posted on by Wellons team

Santa needs PR?

“C’mon,” you scoff. “Santa needs PR like I need a hole in the head.”

But, when you step back and think more about it, even Santa has a genuine need for public relations assistance, just like your business needs public relations to both build sales and address issues that potentially could get in the way of sales.

So what kinds of challenges might Santa face?

  • Start with the elves. Are they happy with what Santa pays them? And what if they go public with their salary concerns? How does Santa react? What does he tell the public? And how does Santa communicate how the elf challenge is being resolved in time for Christmas?
  • What about the reindeer? Animal activists may frown on how Santa puts the flying reindeer to work each Christmas. How does Santa treat the reindeer the other 364 days of the year? Are they overworked? Should they even be used to deliver gifts, or should they be retired in favor of advanced technical solutions for delivery?
  • Weather challenges. How will Santa’s journey south be affected by winter storms that may be lurking in his flight plan? Who will serve as Santa’s spokesman to relay reassurance that the presents will, indeed, make it to their rightful place under the Christmas tree?
  • Credibility. At what age will children begin to ask, “Is Santa real?” And what do parents tell their kids when it becomes obvious that they will be soon facing some tough questions?

How would public relations help Santa?

The world as we know it changes every moment, which creates ever-changing challenges.

A well-organized, thoughtful and up-to-date public relations plan backed by knowledgeable professionals provides a means of dealing with those challenges.

Santa’s brand image ranks second to none, and it would be PR’s job to keep it that way.

Because of his high visibility, everything about Santa – and we mean everything – is subject to public scrutiny. Santa’s PR team would need to anticipate the tough questions that potentially can emerge and be prepared to address them. At the same time, the PR team needs to find new and different ways to ensure that Santa continues to hold his leadership position.

So why do you need public relations?

As you prepare to address the 2019 business year, ask yourself the same kinds of questions Santa’s PR team would ask themselves as they look ahead.

Those questions would include:

  •  How can public relations help me market my product or service?
  • What kinds of newsworthy issues and challenges can hurt my business? And am I prepared to address them?
  • Are there newsworthy issues upon which I can capitalize?
  • Are my messages clear and understandable?
  • Will information about my product or service withstand intense scrutiny?
  • Am I missing an opportunity to affordably and effectively market my product or service by not including public relations?

Put public relations into your marketing mix for 2019

With the turn of the annual calendar right around the corner, now’s the time to look over your existing public relations plan and freshen it for 2019—or to create one altogether.

A practical action plan can be put into place to augment your overall marketing activities for a fraction of the cost of what you would invest in advertisements.

What’s more, when you bring an experienced, knowledgeable PR team to your side, you get considerably more than simply a publicity team. You acquire a team of marketing professionals who proactively help you sell your ideas while covering your back to fight off challenges that prove damaging to your enterprise.

Our recommendation: add PR to your marketing mix in 2019…think of it as a present for your enterprise.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a great 2019

At Wellons Communications, we have been fortunate to assist – and learn from – extraordinary clients whose successes we have been pleased to contribute to. We are, indeed, grateful for their business and we remind ourselves every day that it is a privilege to serve our clients and help them attain success.

We wish you the same kind of success for your business in the coming year.

Merry Christmas…and a prosperous and fruitful New Year.

Communications is a two-way street…starting with listening

Posted on by Wellons team

One of the traits of successful business people is their ability to communicate. Successful businesses center around great ideas, augmented by the ability of their leaders to clearly and persuasively convey why their product or service is important for their target audiences. These leaders have the gift of simply and effectively underscoring the need for what they do and how their product or service benefits their customers.

But in many instances, there is a single trait that distinguishes a business leader from their competitors. It costs nothing but a modicum of patience and minimal amount of time.

That “magic bullet” is listening.

Active listening is a consistent trait among business leaders

Canadian business consultant Brady Wilson—whose Juice, Inc. has earned a reputation for improving communications between businesses, their customers and their own employees—offers an insightful tip on getting people to engage.

Wilson shares a story about a bank that decided to change its customer service interactions. Like every other financial institution, the bank was engaged in transactional currencies where one transaction was just like another.

However, by engaging the brain and the heart in tandem in a process called “human currencies,” the bank was able to increase the sale of financial products and increase customer loyalty.

The first step was to ask a question: “How are you doing?” By demonstrating empathy along with patience, bank employees were able to make a positive brain connection with the customer.

By recognizing the “human element” through active listening, positive changes in customer service interactions happened.

The notion of active listening

Active listening requires a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying, but more importantly, the complete message being communicated.

This demands that one pays attention to the other person.

You cannot allow yourself to become distracted by whatever else may be going on around you or by forming counter arguments while the other person is still speaking—nor can you allow yourself to get bored and lose focus on what the other person is saying.

In short, active listening is hard work. It requires patience and focus. It demands putting aside what you want to say and deferring to someone else for a few moments. And it demands a commitment to listen.

More about active listening

More examples and insights about aggressive listening are underlined by an insightful article by publisher Ashley Stahl, a Forbes contributor, who makes her point by showcasing three Ted Talks in an April 30, 2018 article.

 You can hear the Ted Talks here.

Try talking with Wellons Communications. We listen.

At Wellons Communications, we take listening very seriously. We know what we know…but there is a lot we don’t know. The only way we find out what we don’t know (and need to know) is listening.

We listen to what our clients want to accomplish. We pay attention to what our clients’ target audiences say they want, another form of listening that can point us in the right direction.

Only by listening to our clients can we accurately and successfully help them communicate – and listen – to their target audiences.

Take a shot at active listening and give us a call. Start by telling us what you want to do and, generally, how you want to go about it.

We’ll listen. We will ask questions. And then we will listen some more.

And, when it comes time for us to provide feedback, we will have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and have sound ideas of how we can help you achieve your goals.

I’m ready to start listening to what you have to say. Call me at 407-339-08798 or email me at will@wellonscommunications.com.

 

How to make the most of your next media event

Posted on by Wellons team

When people think of public relations, the image that often comes to mind is working a media event, pulling things together while reporters prepare for an on-camera interview. And while those in the biz know that’s certainly not an everyday occurrence, media events can be one of the most fun parts of the job.

They can also be the most challenging, with long hours and lots of logistics.

At Wellons Communications, we’ve worked our share of media events, from restaurant openings with big celebrities to most recently, Altamonte Springs’ Red Hot & Boom. With that solid experience behind us, we have developed a process to help media events go as smoothly as possible.

Here are some of our tips to help your next event go off without a hitch—and with a ton of media coverage.

Target your messages.

What matters to TV reporters might not matter to a freelancer photographer, and what’s important to a blogger might not be what a newspaper reporter wants to know. That is to say, when you’re telling the media about your event, make sure you’re giving them the information they need to do their job. Showing that you understand what they need and will make sure things go smoothly once they’re there goes a long way for getting media to cover your event.

Avoid the one and done.

When it comes to media events, you can’t send it and forget it. Getting live, in-person coverage is harder than getting a publication to run a press release because it involves a lot more coordination on both sides. Make sure you send all of the information multiple times, and don’t be afraid to call to make sure there aren’t any questions.

Be prepared.

When you’re working off-site and out of your element, this step can’t be overlooked. You have to think of everything. Make sure you have a hard copy of any press materials you might need to distribute, but make sure you can access any docs you might need digitally, too. Chance of rain? Think about plastic folders or laminating key documents (yes, we’ve walked out of events with soaking, ruined notebooks before…lesson learned!). Batteries or back-up chargers are always a good idea. And don’t forget to take care of yourself, too! You can’t do your job if you aren’t feeling well. Bring water and snacks, if you need to, and wear weather and event appropriate clothing.

Brief the whole team.

Even if only a few team members will be working on-site, make sure your entire team is in on the plan. They should know what to do if media members call the office, how they can assist you if needed and how they can reach you in any circumstance.

Celebrate success.

At the end of a long event, we just want to kick off our shoes and relax. But too often, it ends there. People don’t look back on the event and learn. What went well? What can we do better next time? Where did we have success? Experience is the best teacher, and this is the team’s chance to reap the rewards from a hard day’s work.

With this checklist in mind, we’ve had some seriously successful media events, and with these tips in mind, we know you’ll be able to maximize your next live media opportunity.

2025 © Wellons Communications | Orlando PR Firm. All Rights Reserved.