The idea of partnering with a nonprofit organization in your community may initially seem daunting – especially if you are a smaller business – but the marketing potential for your company and the potential for the nonprofit organization to grow far outweigh the work marketing strategy requires.

What Is Partnership Marketing?

To begin, let’s first look at what exactly partnership marketing is. Partnership marketing is when two organizations collaborate to create a marketing campaign or strategy that is mutually beneficial. This could include a one-time event, a campaign or a long-term partnership to raise awareness for a cause.

In this blog article, we discuss why partnering specifically with a nonprofit organization may be beneficial both for your company’s marketing strategy and the nonprofit you choose to partner with.

A Brief History Of Partnership Marketing

How did partnership marketing get to where it is today? Let’s take a brief look at the history of partnerships. Mutually beneficial collaboration dates back to the dawn of time. When two parties come together to achieve a similar goal using their combined resources and skills, the results are greater than if they were to work alone.

When the internet gained popularity in the 1990s and social media debuted in the early 2000s, it changed how businesses interact with and distribute goods and services to consumers. This access to information and direct communication with consumers completely changed the marketing world. According to CIPD, this is the time period that gave way to the modern idea of partnerships. They explain, “Ideally, Business partnering is about defining and aligning people function capabilities in order to meet the [organization’s] objectives.”

5 Benefits To Partnering With A Nonprofit Organization

Now that we know what a marketing partnership is, what are five business benefits of partnering with a nonprofit organization?

1. Expands Your Audience And Encourage Customer Loyalty

Partnering with a nonprofit can double your audience at a low cost!

If you work in marketing, you know how important it is to nail down your audience and create messaging specifically for them. Creating content designed for your audience builds brand loyalty and ensures they return to your business. You are 60-70% more likely to sell to an existing customer, compared to the 5-20% likelihood of selling your product or service to a new client. 

If you work in marketing, you know how important it is to nail down your audience and create messaging specifically for them. Creating content designed for your audience builds brand loyalty and ensures they return to your business. You are 60-70% more likely to sell to an existing customer, compared to the 5-20% likelihood of selling your product or service to a new client.

When you partner with a nonprofit organization, you increase your reach to include your partner’s loyal audience as well. Unless the nonprofit is a new venture, they will already have an audience who cares about their mission.

In addition to gaining a new audience from the nonprofit organization, this partnership will also strengthen the trust of the relationship you already have with your current audience and customers.

Your audience and customers want to know who you are as a company. Are you a company that cares about causes, or one that stays silent? Seeing that your business cares about an issue amplifies who you are and in turn makes for strong customer relationships.

2. Solidifies Your Brand Identity

Partnering with a nonprofit will help solidify your brand.

Branding is the baseline for all things marketing and public relations. If your audience isn’t sure what your brand is, it is highly unlikely they will choose to support it. There is so much competition nowadays that people can pick and choose what they want to purchase and who they support based on how they feel about the brand as a whole.

As Hubspot explains, “A product is never just a product, right? Companies who create strong brands know that their brand needs to live everywhere. They know their names extend far beyond the label.”

Hubspot goes on to say, “Branding can be the deciding factor for consumers when they make a purchase decision. In a global Nielson survey, almost 60% of shoppers said they actively buy from brands they know, and 21% said they bought a product because they liked the brand.”

It is not enough anymore to have an amazing product or service. Consumers are faced with hundreds of products in each category, and they are going to choose the brand they are passionate about that aligns with their values.

Partnering with a nonprofit organization in your community shows your audience that your brand is more than the products or services you offer. Supporting a cause that matters to you will strengthen and solidify your brand.

3. Expands Your Team Without Breaking The Bank

When you partner with another business you essentially double your team members! More brainpower is almost always better, and the campaign ideas from both teams will  lead to great marketing and business ventures that would be extremely expensive if not for the partnership.

4. Creates Positive Long-Term Marketing Relationships

Relationships are everything in marketing. Creating positive relationships with clients, customers and other organizations builds trust and respect and establishes yourself as a leader in your industry.

Networking is simple; people choose to work with people they like. When you partner with a nonprofit, one of your goals should be cultivating a positive, long-lasting relationship with the people at the nonprofit. As we mentioned earlier, you also will have the opportunity to foster positive, long-term relationships with the members of the nonprofit organization’s community as well.

5. Raises Money For A Nonprofit Organization

When you partner with a nonprofit, it is likely that the partnership will include raising money for their cause by selling a product or service.

Choose a nonprofit your company cares about. Working together will not only help your organization for all the reasons we’ve mentioned above, but it will also help bring attention to the nonprofit. Partnership marketing is a two-way street. With hard work and support from both organizations, you both will reap the benefits.

How To Find The Right Nonprofit Partner

Finding the right nonprofit is very important when joining together for a campaign.

Finding the right partner is critical to a successful partnership marketing campaign with a nonprofit organization.

But how do you find the right partner? Here are some areas to consider when searching for a nonprofit to partner with.

1. Aligned Values

To have a successful partnership with a nonprofit organization, you must align on values. As we mentioned earlier, consumers are only going to support brands that align with their values. If you are partnering with a nonprofit organization that has different values than you it will confuse your audience and most likely lead to losing supporters.

2. A Cause That Makes Sense For Your Company

The nonprofit you choose to partner with needs to make sense, or your audience will see right through it. They may think you are just partnering with them to seem like you care about the cause. You will see an example below of what can happen when your cause doesn’t fit with your partner’s organization.

3. Mutually Benefits

Both your business and the nonprofit organization should be getting something out of the partnership or it will not be successful.

An Example Of A Partnership That Works: Lush

Let’s look at a corporate and nonprofit partnership that has worked in the past.

Lush is a bath, body, skin and hair care company devoted to creating fresh, ethically-sourced, cruelty-free, vegetarian, handmade, low-waste and effective products.

In 2007, Lush launched their “Charity Pots” initiative. The idea was that if you bought a “Charity Pot” (a body lotion) 100% of the price, minus taxes, went to supporting one of many small grassroots organizations that Lush partnered with. Since launching in 2007, they have donated over $50 million to over 2,800 small grassroots projects and organizations in eight countries. Meet some of their partners with this link. Along with the charity pots, Lush also launches ethical campaigns to give a voice to causes that are important to them.

This partnership Lush has with grassroots organizations is incredibly successful. The partnerships make sense. Lush has long been a company that is more than just a body-care brand. They make it clear in their mission statement and with their actions. They are a sustainable company, use ethical packaging, ethically source their products, and much more. Lush uses their platform to raise money and awareness for many causes and in return creates a great marketing platform for themselves. Customers are much more likely to shop at Lush knowing that the money goes directly to causes they care about.

On the other side, however, a partnership that wasn’t successful was when KFC tried partnering with a breast cancer awareness group by pledging to donate 50 cents per bucket of fried chicken to Susan G. Komen For the Cure. While KFC may have had the best intentions for this campaign, it was clearly not a good fit as the two organizations’ missions did not line up. KFC’s food is typically fattening, which can sometimes predispose people to certain types of cancer. Selling this food to support cancer awareness seemed forced and unthoughtful.

Final Things To Keep In Mind During Your Partnership

Now that you know more about partnership marketing and its history, why partnering with a nonprofit could help your marketing efforts and some examples for your campaign, here are a few last tips to keep in mind when you begin your partnership efforts:

1. Be Genuine: Being genuine is always important when marketing your organization. Consumers can see right through any insincerity. A huge reason the KFC campaign was not successful is the partnership did not seem genuine. Make sure you partner with an organization that aligns with your business.
2. Make The Most Of The Partnership: Partnering with a nonprofit organization is a great way to double both organizations’ resources, so make use of this throughout the campaign. Bounce ideas off each other, work together and learn from each other.

Still Need Marketing Help? Contact Us At Three Girls Media

Do you need help with your marketing strategy? Our team of experienced marketers can help! We offer a complimentary 30-minute, no-obligation consultation with our CEO Erika Taylor Montgomery! Contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve your marketing goals.

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In today’s digital era, most businesses communicate digitally with their customers. To some, the importance of a press release may seem outdated or old-fashioned, as other social media channels have taken precedence. Why are press releases still an important facet of your content marketing strategy? This article offers insight into the importance of a press release and how to write one your audience will want to read.

What Is A Press Release?

Many people have heard of press releases before, but what are they exactly? As defined by FeedDough, they are formal, official announcements regarding something new or significant about you, your business, an upcoming event or something of a similar nature. They should promote your business, archive important data for future use and hopefully, improve your SEO. Press releases were designed to inform journalists and members of the press about your company’s current and upcoming news. For example, if you have a major event for your business coming up, you could write a press release announcing your event to the public.

A press release doesn’t guarantee media exposure, however. Part of your content marketing strategy should involve finding ways to make your press release stand out. Edward Lowe touches on why it is important to know how to properly distribute a press release. “A well-written press release can help boost sales, give your business greater public exposure and enhance your company or product image. Press releases can generate media coverage that tells millions of potential customers what’s new, different and exciting about your business or product.”

The audience for press releases doesn’t stop just at newspapers, however, but also includes, radio, TV news bulletins, podcasts and blogs. That way, you’re positioning your brand in front of a wider audience. Do you want a quick and easy way to search any company or keyword on social media and the news? Using this free tool by Brand Mentions allows you to track mentions of your brand online!

When Should I Send A Press Release?

There are many good times to create a press release about your organization.

Press releases are a tool for your content marketing strategy that you can use to promote your business and share important information.

You should share a press release any time you have something newsworthy or important to share. Here is a list of newsworthy things you can share in your press release from CoSchedule:

• Breaking news announcements. Lend news outlets a helping hand. Sharing a press release with journalists will help them publish breaking news as quickly as possible.
• Events. Offer reporters a press release that gives them something timely and interesting to share with their audiences. This will help to increase engagement with that event!
• Partnerships. If you team up with another company, the media may want to know. It’s a win-win for both you and your partner.
• Research. Data and original insights are always interesting, but remember to spice it up a bit; no one wants to read a boring data report.
• Awards. Don’t be afraid to share your success!
• Hiring new executives. This relates more to larger companies and organizations, but it can be important news when someone new is hired at a company.
• Crisis management. When things go wrong, the importance of a press release only intensifies. You get the opportunity to tell the story first in your own voice.

When you’re constructing the content marketing strategy for your press release, make sure you have something your audience (and the media’s audience) will care about. This will considerably increase the odds that your release will earn media coverage.

Now that you know what a press release is, and when to send one, let’s dive into five specific reasons they are important to your business.

Why Your Business Needs To Do A Press Release

More than anything, a press release helps get your business or brand name into the public forum. But unlike other forms of coverage, your business controls the brand voice and message. This helps to shape the public’s perception of your business.

Still not convinced about the importance of this tool? Let’s keep going.

1. Improve Your Credibility

Every business wants to be credible. A press release is a fantastic way to build your credibility! Consumers view journals and newsletters as trusted sources of information. In a study conducted by Business Wire, 73% of respondents reported that the first place they looked to learn more about a company was their press releases. It is especially useful for start-ups and growing small businesses to get a positive word out about themselves.

2. Engage the Media

Press releases are a great way to foster a connection with journalists and news organizations.

Through the rise of social media, press releases are not only available to journalists, but can also be made available to the public through social media channels. Distributing your content through social media channels gives your business an opportunity to interact with a wide breadth of consumers. It is important, however, to know how to market your press release on social media platforms. As Online PR Media advises, you can do a single post that simply announces the news and shares the link, but a better strategy might be to segment your followers and personalize the message based on why each audience should care. If you want more insight into how to angle your marketing content to specific audiences, check out this blog article!

3. Build Search Engine Traffic

Having information about your company published through a press release on large news sites is not only beneficial for your company’s brand, but also for SEO. As described by Cision, a well-written press release utilizing SEO best practices allows search engines to find, match, index and rank your content. With 2.4 million searches happening every minute, having a high-ranking press release on Google and other search engines provides enhanced exposure to current and future customers.

4. Increase Public Relations Activity

Press releases give you the ability to connect not only with journalists but with many other media outlets. If your press release is current and timely, it can get picked up by a reporter from the news media or others interested in the topic. This serves as an opportunity for more publicity in the form of radio, television interviews, quotes in newspaper articles and other PR activity. But make sure to do your research! A well-written press release needs to provide the full story, including the who, what, where, when and why. If it isn’t accurate or engaging, why would any media outlet share it?

5. Manage A Crisis

Press releases are an effective way to respond to a crisis.

Lastly, the importance of a press release revolves around crisis communication. This form of communication can be a useful tool when things go wrong; you get the opportunity to tell the story first.

So, what exactly is crisis communication? Intelligent Relations explains that a crisis communication press release is a written communication that defines a crisis the company and its stakeholders are facing and offers concrete steps to mitigate damage or serve those impacted. It helps to stop speculation around the crisis by transparently communicating the facts and establishing a central source of information from the company.

How To Write A Press Release

Now that you know the importance of a press release, let’s dive into the content marketing strategy side of things. How do you write one that will get you noticed by the media? Here are some cardinal rules to follow when crafting your press release:

• Keep headlines short and sweet. According to HubSpot, 75% of publishers prefer subject lines with 10 or fewer words.
• Ensure it’s unique. Why should people care? Make them care by sharing facts and background information that help readers understand why your topic is newsworthy.
• Avoid excessive hyperlinks. Keep people in your story, not clicking elsewhere.
• End with a call to action. This is where you can ask your audience to engage with your company!

What To Include In Your Press Release

Make sure to include your organization’s contact information.

In case you were searching for a little more direction in creating your press release, here are a few necessary components to include:

• Grab the media’s attention! Be specific when crafting your headlines.
• Press contact. It is vital to include your contact information in a press release. This allows the media to get in touch with you if they want to do a follow-up story.
• City, state, location. Where is your company located?
• Body copy.Follow the inverted pyramid style when presenting information within your body paragraphs. You should also incorporate a writing style that fits your event or report.
• The boilerplate explains what your company is all about and what your mission is. Include the boilerplate at the very end of every press release.

Check Out This Example Press Release

Looking for a little more help? Here is an example of a stellar press release from our company:

Media Contact:

Three Girls Media Inc.

Erika Taylor Montgomery

408-218-2391, 360-955-1410

Info@ThreeGirlsMedia.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Marketing And PR Firm Named Best Woman-Owned Content Marketing Agency In Pacific Northwest

Rapidly Growing Three Girls Media, Inc. Wins Third Major Award

August 4, 2022 (Rainier, WA) – Three Girls Media, Inc. (www.ThreeGirlsMedia.com), a marketing and public relations agency headquartered in Rainier, Washington is excited to announce it was just awarded, “Best Woman-Owned Content Marketing Agency – Pacific Northwest,” by CV Magazine in their 2022 Technology Innovator Awards.

CV Magazine’s Corporate Vision team works diligently to compile the top market leaders, innovators and enterprising start-ups. When assessing these businesses, the research team casts their judgment based on various criteria like client dedication, innovation, business growth, longevity, online reputation and much more.

“We are incredibly proud to win this esteemed award,” said Erika Taylor Montgomery, CEO of Three Girls Media, Inc. “As a business owner, I strive to provide affordable marketing and top-notch customer service to organizations large and small in a wide variety of industries. It’s extremely humbling that our efforts are being recognized by such a prestigious organization.”

In 2019, Three Girls was also awarded, “Most Innovative Social Media Marketing Agency,” and “Best Boutique Content Marketing Firm,” in Washington state, also by CV Magazine.

The agency will celebrate its 18th year in business in June.

About Three Girls Media Inc.

Three Girls Media Inc. is a world-class marketing agency founded in 2005 in Silicon Valley. In 2013, Three Girls moved its headquarters to Yelm, WA. The company works with B2B and B2C clients in all industries, across the U.S. and internationally, and provides a wide range of marketing services including strategic social media management and advertising, blogging for search engine optimization and crafting compelling email marketing campaigns, engaging websites, ads and collateral, media relations campaigns, branding, stunning graphic design and more. Learn more at www.ThreeGirlsMedia.com

Learn more about Three Girls Media and what we have to offer by giving us a call at 408-218-2391.

Let Three Girls Media Assist With Your Marketing Strategy

If you have questions or would like the assistance of a professional marketing agency, please contact us at Three Girls Media! We offer a free, 30-minute consultation to learn more about your specific needs and to let you know what we can do for you. We have a full staff of seasoned marketing professionals who are excited and eager to help you reach your marketing goals.

 

The post Five Reasons Press Releases Are Important And How To Write Them appeared first on Three Girls Media.

In this blog post we include 11 tools and resources we love at Three Girls Media.

Content Marketing Tools & Resources

1. Adobe Express

This convenient content creation tool allows you to easily create images and graphics, videos or web stories. You can use the free version as long as you don’t mind Adobe Express adding their branding at the end of your video, or you can upgrade to remove it and unlock a few more customization options.

Adobe Express has a wide range of templates you can use as a starting point to develop visuals that will complement your content marketing efforts, whether you plan to post them on your business’s social media channels, include them in a blog post or add them to your website.

2. Canva

This is one of my favorite tools for creating custom images! I use it nearly every day for Three Girls and our clients. With Canva, you can pick out one of their design templates and customize it to fit your business’s branding. You can also upload your company’s images to add to the design.

3. CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

Do you ever wonder how strong your email subject lines or blog post titles are? There’s a tool that can help! CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer uses your word choice, word count, amount of sentimentality and other factors to provide a score for your title.

For content marketing, this is a great way to make sure your e-newsletter subject lines and blog post titles appeal to your target audience. As you develop your content, plan to spend some time putting in different titles and testing which ones score well. In addition to the score, pay attention to why they receive each score. This will help you bolster your title-writing skills. Additionally, a lot of the same principles carry over to the social media updates you write.

This tool is also useful for public relations! When you write your media pitches, try a few different possible subject lines to see which ones score well and are likely to entice journalists to open your pitch.

4. Google Alerts

These email updates provide the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on the keywords you set. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

• Following specific industry keywords for possible articles and stories to share with your followers
• Monitoring a developing news story
• Keeping current on a competitor or industry
• Discovering potential articles about you or your business

As you set your Google Alerts, think about what terms you would type into Google to find what you’re looking for and set them as your alerts instead. This will prompt Google to send you an email when it comes across those words or phrases. You can also tell Google how often to email you your alerts – as they happen, daily or weekly.

5. Google Trends

If you like looking at data with charts and graphs, this is the tool for you! With Google Trends, you can input a few different terms and compare them by popularity, region and more – including trend history and projections. This resource’s data can help you narrow down your target audience to understand them better, which you can then use to fine-tune your content marketing or public relations strategy.

6. Hootsuite

One important component of social media marketing success is consistency. How can you make sure you post updates regularly? Save time in your content creation efforts by writing them in advance and scheduling them to go live at a later day and time! Hootsuite is a fantastic tool for this. They have various versions of free and paid accounts based on the way you want to use their services.

Although some companies simply take a “one and done” approach to their social media, where they push the same update through to all their platforms at once, at Three Girls we stress the importance of different updates for each social channel. Each network is different; an update that’s written for Twitter is not appropriate for LinkedIn.

Hootsuite allows you to connect your company’s various social media accounts and schedule updates to each one at various days and times. This means you can take an image or article you want to share on all your platforms, write a unique update for each one and schedule it out to go live different days and times. Then you don’t need to worry about remembering to push the update through. Just turn on your notifications and keep an eye on engagement so you can respond to followers’ questions or comments.

7. Keywords Everywhere

Effective content marketing begins with strong keywords. How do you know which ones to use? Keywords Everywhere is a helpful tool for researching the best search terms for your brand. This browser extension seamlessly integrates with Google, so when you perform a search it tells you the keyword’s volume (number of searches per month), CPC (cost per click if you were to advertise) and competition (based on other content/keywords out there on the internet).

In addition to providing these details about the term you search for, it also provides even more suggestions on the side of the screen along with volume, CPC and competition.

8. MailChimp

Research shows e-newsletters continue to be an effective component of content marketing. How can you manage your database of contacts while sending sleek, user-friendly emails? MailChimp is a cost-effective resource that provides a lot of helpful tools and can even integrate your email campaign with social media advertising and more. When it comes to your email marketing strategy, MailChimp provides a lot of options to help you develop the best plan for your business.

Public Relations Tools & Resources

9. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

HARO is an incredibly valuable tool when it comes to securing media coverage! Everyone’s an expert at something. Sharing your expertise may land you that big media opportunity you’ve been looking for! With HARO, journalists post specific queries, and you respond directly to them if you are a good source for their needs. From The New York Times and ABC News to Refinery29 and everyone in between, more than 55,000 members of the media have quoted HARO sources in their stories.

Every day, our team of marketing and public relations specialists carefully looks through their daily digests of media queries from HARO, searching for appropriate stories to respond to on behalf of clients.

General Organization Tools & Resources

10. Slack

This tool’s usefulness goes beyond content marketing and public relations-specific activities and work teams. Slack is a resource for team members to stay connected on a more personable, human level – even if they aren’t physically in the same space. It’s designed to allow users to have numerous chats going at once, clearly organized with different channels. Whether you’re collaborating across the room or around the world, it’s incredibly useful for team unity!

11. Teamwork

Another helpful business tool that is incredibly useful for content marketing and public relations (as well as other teams!) is Teamwork. This resource can take some time to wrap your head around, but it’s worth it!

Teamwork is a project management tool that allows you to virtually share updates and progress with team members. You create different teams for each client or project, and within those teams you can create tasks, prioritize work, set time targets and assign projects. You can even use Teamwork for time tracking. This tool is a fantastic way to share resources and manage projects with team members who aren’t necessarily in the same location.

Do You Need Help With Your Content Marketing Or Public Relations Efforts?

If you need help with your business’s marketing or PR efforts, contact us today for a complimentary consultation! We will utilize the many resources and tools at our disposal to create the best strategy and content for your brand.

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The post 11 Of The Best Content Marketing And Public Relations Tools appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Want to better understand the differences between PR and advertising? This post has the scoop.

Are you interested in learning about how a PR campaign can help your business? Contact us today at Three Girls Media for a complimentary, no-obligation consult with our CEO, Erika Taylor Montgomery. Our team of experienced marketing and PR specialists is here to help!

Stay tuned for more of Phoebe’s insight and follow her on Instagram or connect with Three Girls Media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest tips and tricks from our favorite office dog!

The post Phoebe Says … Consider A PR Campaign appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Creating A Powerful Brand

PR is all about establishing the right brand and positioning it in the minds of your customer. It is important to pick a domain name that is easy to remember and aligns with your brand values.

There are two ways to do this. If you are an established brick-and-mortar business, it makes sense to purchase a domain name that carries the same branding forward. However, if you are just starting, you could look at buying an existing brand from your industry. Building a brand from scratch can be time-consuming, and purchasing an established brand can help immensely with your PR strategy. E-commerce platforms like Shopify have their own marketplace where you can find established brands for sale that fit your own business values.

Identify Consumer Triggers

Consumer emotion is the heart of a successful PR strategy and there are two ways to trigger this. The first way is to reinforce something a consumer already believes in. Alternatively, you could establish something that is diagonally opposite to what your consumer believes in. In both cases, your PR triggers the emotions necessary for a consumer to take action. For instance, most people believe they have a “sleeping position” – we either sleep on our side, our stomach or our back. One study by a bedding company triggered consumer emotion by stating the opposite of this common belief.

Take this study on the other hand – most of us spend time on social media and websites like Facebook and Instagram, which are well-known time sinks. The study reinforces this common belief with substantiated numbers that help trigger consumer emotions. It was thus successful at generating PR. In both cases, the objective of a PR exercise is to generate information that triggers a reaction or emotion from your consumers.

Invoking Action From Consumers

Utilizing social media is a great PR strategy to get the word out about your business.

The best PR campaigns are viral in nature and require no forced nudges. However, such campaigns are few and far between and luck and timing often play a part in executing these. That being said, you can still make your non-viral PR campaigns successful through diligent execution.

Social media campaigns and email blasts are wonderful enablers of broadcasting your brand messaging. Build and nurture an email list of journalists and bloggers who write about news in your industry and help them at work by providing them with insightful newsworthy tidbits. Nurturing a list this way helps you gain influence, which is handy while reaching out to the press with your own PR story. If you are just starting, it makes sense to subscribe to a journalist-outreach service like we offer at Three Girls Media that can help you reach blogs and websites in your industry.

Social media followers, who are typically your consumers as well, are a critical component of your PR exercise. Build a social media following that is passionate about your industry. Nurture and engage with this audience by sharing news and tips that appeal to this audience. When you have a highly engaged social media following, it becomes easier to create virality around your PR activities. Invest in Facebook or Instagram advertising to get the first set of readers and followers who can then set the ball moving on virality.

The success of a PR campaign depends on reaching influencers and in turn, hitting a critical mass of readers who then share your story with their followers in such a way that the campaign becomes self-sustaining. This can be done either organically or through paid advertising. The success of a campaign is measured by how much brand equity you gain through the process. A sustained PR campaign helps your business in establishing a brand that consumers come directly to instead of searching for your products on third-party platforms like Google.

Do You Need Help With Your PR Strategy?

If you struggle find yourself struggling with your PR efforts or just don’t know where to start, contact us at Three Girls Media. Our team of experienced marketing and PR specialists is ready and willing to begin planning your press strategy today. We offer a complimentary, 30-minute phone consultation to discuss the specific needs and goals of your business.

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The post 3 Simple PR Strategies For A Successful E-Commerce Business appeared first on Three Girls Media.

Public relations, on the other hand, is a more subtle, disciplined approach with the aim of influencing public opinion and behavior. When you read an article about a product or service, or see it covered on TV news as opposed to a print ad or TV commercial, you’re much more inclined to pay attention. PR brings credibility, knowledge and understanding of the product being promoted, so future advertising is more likely to succeed.

It is a predictable, sustainable way to affect managed growth for your company. PR is not designed to translate into thousands of immediate direct sales, however. Sales do often result from PR campaigns, but the primary goal is to help your company gradually build a national brand through strategic editorial coverage. Brand awareness and name recognition are critical to this process.

Research shows that it takes anywhere from seven to 77 impressions of a product or service before most consumers are compelled to buy non-essential items. A sustained media presence in the national press alongside content marketing (especially blogging, social media and email marketing) will help achieve this over a period of 12 to 24 months.

The Differences Between Public Relations And Advertising

There are a couple of major differences between traditional advertising and public relations campaigns: the price and the control you have as a company. Below is a short description of these differences.

• Paid Space Versus “Free” Coverage
  

  Traditional advertising is not as cost-effective as a public relations campaign.

Advertising is paid space designed to sell your product directly to the consumer. Traditional ads are very expensive and usually not effective unless they’re extremely targeted and repeated over a long period of time. Consumers are usually wary of advertising and often ignore it.

In contrast, editorial coverage that results from PR is free, and more importantly, it’s an editorial endorsement of your product! The credibility this brings makes PR the more valuable choice for companies that can’t afford nationwide ad campaigns.

• Total Control Versus Flexibility
  

  While you don’t have as much control over a public relations campaign as with traditional advertising, it is a very cost-effective method of getting the word out about your business.

Advertising makes you the boss as long as you’ve got the cash. You decide exactly what your ad says, how it will look and when and where it will run. Traditionally, you pay top dollar for this control. The downside? Traditional advertising, even in small publications, is anything but cheap.

With media coverage, the press decides size, length, word choice, format and which photos, if any, are used. You may not have control, but consumers pay far more attention to features and stories and put much more trust in them. Best of all, public relations campaigns are extremely cost-effective compared to traditional advertising.

Which Should You Choose, Advertising Or Public Relations?

Both advertising and public relations can be extremely effective. The most successful campaigns use both at the same time. However, the cost of a dual PR/ad campaign is out of reach for many companies. For businesses with limited budgets, we suggest building your credibility and public awareness first with a strategic PR campaign, which will then help ensure the success of your future advertising.

Let Three Girls Media Assist With Your Public Relations And Advertising Strategy

If you would prefer to focus on the business side of things and let others manage your public relations and advertising strategy, please contact us at Three Girls Media for a complimentary consultation. We have a full staff of seasoned marketing and PR professionals who are eager to help you reach your company’s goals.

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Media communication is all about establishing two-way relationships. Here is a quick guide to working with reporters, how to maintain relationships and how get them to report your story.

Media Communication: 3 Tips For Working With Reporters

Are you building strong relationships with reporters? Follow these media communication tips.

1. Be Accessible–An essential part of great media communication is accessibility. Reporters want to be able to get information for their stories easily and quickly. You want to make yourself as available to the reporter as you can be, which means including your contact information (phone and email) and preparing yourself to readily give out information at the drop of a hat.
2. Be Flexible – Reporters are busy people. They are constantly fielding media requests from public relations practitioners, both good and bad. In addition to offering flexible timing to reporters, it is helpful to be flexible with your content as well. When communicating with the public, it is never good to keep certain topics off-limits; it creates the illusion of secrecy. With all media communications, be transparent with your message and willing to work with the journalist.
3. Relationships Rule – Once you work with a reporter, send them a handwritten thank you note after your coverage has come out. A personalized thank you goes a long way, and you never know when the next project they are working on will align well with your product or service.

Media communications can be complicated, but by following these three tips for working with reporters you can build genuine relationships with reporters and media professionals. These professional relationships will help you stand out when pitching stories and aid you in achieving your goal of getting media coverage for your brand.

Our PR & Media Communications Expertise

Are you interested in working with the media? We can advise you on the best approach to media communication and how to pitch your stories to media professionals so they get told. Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation and see how our public relations strategies can get your business the media coverage you’re looking for.

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1. Video Format

Video continues to reign supreme in the world of digital content. In fact, it beats out blogging and email marketing for first place. In a recent survey, HubSpot discovered that 59% of participants use video as a key component of their marketing strategy, while a whopping 76% claim video is their most effective content. Additionally, one in four marketers say video format yields the biggest return on investment.

Video is a leading format among marketing trends; preferred over text.

What are some of the driving factors behind the leverage that video yields?

• Video creates a deeper connection between you and your audience and is a convenient format for brands to repurpose for their own use. Visual elements are powerfully persuasive, so utilizing video for business and personal brands as well as products is very compelling.
• Although it depends largely on individual preference, videos can help us retain information easier. When people have a better understanding of a topic, they are more likely to believe the information being shared. When given the option, more often people will choose to watch a video over reading text.

Creating video has become more accessible and affordable than ever before. Gone are the days when companies hired production crews to produce their content. With a lower cost barrier, most people find that a ring light, microphone and tripod can handle most of their needs. Although polished, professional videos have their place in some industries, marketers find that videos with a casual and spontaneous feel garner the most attention.

According to Aytekin Tank, founder & CEO of Jotform, “2022 will be the year of the video, because organizations are more comfortable with it and realize it’s a way to engage their audience, communicate offerings and provide infotainment.”

With the growing number of social platforms accommodating video formats, it’s no surprise that short-form video is the trend for coming years. Be creative in your storytelling by implementing transitions in your video content. Mix it up by changing outfits, using different backgrounds, trying various camera angles or experimenting with the boomerang effect on Instagram. There are a lot of creative ways to grab your audience’s attention!

2. Influencer Marketing

This is a watershed moment for influencer marketing. When surveyed, 34% of global marketing professionals said they put influencer marketing at the top of their list. Why has influencer marketing evolved from being a trend to having the solid reputation of a common marketing tactic?

With a return on investment of $5.78 for every dollar spent, it’s not surprising that the vast majority of marketers are looking to increase their influencer marketing budgets in the next year. According to this blog article, the collaboration between influencers and brands is growing exponentially (up from $9.7 billion in 2020 and $13.8 billion in 2021).

Influencers are typically well-versed in their field or topic and have the potential to reach a radically new audience. They already have a built-in loyal audience that your brand will have full exposure to. Influencers are categorized by their popularity, engagement and number of followers, so the cost of hiring one will vary depending on their reach. If you can’t afford a mega-influencer, that’s alright. Over 56% of marketers who engage in influencer marketing work with micro-influencers. Subsequently, this group is composed mostly of everyday people, so audiences are more likely to trust their recommendations.

3. Social Responsibility

An important marketing tactic for 2022 is to focus on business ethics.

The market for socially responsible brands has spiked upward the past few years due to COVID-19 and other global events. Conventional ways of doing business have been shattered and obstacles seem to be loosening their grip, making change more attainable. The modern consumer demands transparency and ethically sourced products as part of their buying experience. Additionally, the pandemic has taken its toll on workers, resources and the supply chain, and employees have become more vocal about unsatisfactory work conditions, frustrations and inequality.

As a result, social responsibility has become a marketing tactic for companies that fully comprehend the positive impact of sharing their mission, philanthropic endeavors and values. This doesn’t add up to immediate benefit in sales or growth, however, this is a long-term strategy that will strengthen diversity and inclusion.

4. Flywheel Method

One of the marketing trends for the second half of 2022 is the new flywheel approach to inbound marketing. The flywheel explains the momentum you gain when you center your entire business around delivering exceptional customer service experiences. A flywheel is remarkable at storing and releasing energy; this energy is helpful when you consider how customers can help your business grow.

The funnel marketing model didn’t keep up with the times, and efforts to widen the funnel became futile. Nowadays, before speaking with a salesperson, customers are more inclined to do independent research. They look online for recommendations and use word of mouth to assist with their buying decisions.

The flywheel model is more equitable and creates win-win situations. Customers are more likely to refer you and become advocates for your organization. Word of mouth is what all companies strive for. By developing a symbiotic relationship with customers, you’ll delight and empower them.

5. Search Engine Optimization

Websites and content are only as good as the ability for customers to find you. Continually optimizing your content with keywords and other parameters will ensure both long-term and short-term success. While SEO has been around for a long time, its strategies are evolving and even more integrated for modern day marketing tactics. As Google algorithms adapt to the growing number of online users, brands are investing in experts who can assist them with insight reports and optimization across all forms of media content.

If you’ve built a massive website index, search engines have to decide which pages will come up in the search results based on relevance and popularity. There are numerous factors to take into consideration when optimizing SEO, in fact Google has over 200 ranking factors. Here are a few that are typically prioritized.

• Loading speed and mobile friendliness
• Authoritative, valuable content
• Relevancy of incoming links
• Metrics for click through rate and length of time users are engaged on your site

While this is helpful, it’s recommended to go beyond these initial recommendations and continue to dive deeper. As the granularity of this strategy intensifies, so does the need to educate yourself or hire experts to handle the workload.

6. Infographics

Infographics are a popular marketing
tactic for 2022.

It’s been posited that humans process images 60,000 times faster than text. Infographics can take large bodies of information and condense it into a digestible format. If you’ve ever looked at a spreadsheet for hours, you’ll appreciate the simplicity that infographics provide.

Infographics are not a new trend by any stretch. However, 38% of marketers plan to leverage this marketing tactic for the first time in 2022, while another 45% of marketers currently implement them. Infographics have the advantage of conveying data and insights with all of the visual impact of a professional photo. When done well, these graphics can deliver an effective one-two punch, combining artful design and informative data.

Whether you’re designing for an annual report or a LinkedIn post, a relevant and thoughtful infographic will naturally lead people to value your brand as a credible resource. Created with data-driven content in mind, infographics can set you apart as an authority in your field.

7. Blogging

Blogging has been around as long as websites have, but that doesn’t mean they’ve diminished in their effectiveness. Data from marketers reveals that most consumers read blogs and have made a purchase as a result of one. In fact, 10% of marketers who leverage blogging say it generates the biggest ROI. It’s easy to see why it’s a staple among marketers and business owners alike.

One of the greatest benefits of blogging for your website is discoverability. Web crawlers work around the clock matching keywords and search phrases to help users find what they’re looking for. Not only will blogging rank your business higher in search results (using targeted keywords for SEO), but you can position yourself as an authority in your industry.

With the age of globalization and every mom-and-pop store across the nation launching its own website, blogging is a clear path to put your business head and shoulders above the competition.

8. Effortless Content

While Gen Z dominates social media, effortless content is growing in popularity. Podcasts and other audio content are consumed daily by 55% of the American population. Replacing blocks of text with images allows viewers to absorb information in less time. If Gen Z is part of your target audience, targeting them with video, infographics and images will be of great benefit.

Podcasts are great for establishing expertise and developing trust, particularly as long-form content. Growth for podcasts remains on an upward tick and is expected to continue throughout 2022. Podcasts offer flexibility for the listener as they have the choice to consume them in their entirety or in smaller, more digestible bites. Some creators will endeavor to spin off their podcast using these methods:

●     Transcribing their podcasts into a blog post or article

●     Selecting highlights for slide share

●     Repurposing sound bites and audiograms

●     Creating short-form video if the podcast was video recorded

9. Optimizing For Mobile

Gen Z dominates the digital landscape.

People have developed quite a reliance on their phones to perform everyday functions. In fact, a surprising number of people will forgo using a computer, instead choosing to work directly on their phones. More than half of annual online traffic originates from smartphones. Mobile engagement isn’t strictly limited to websites and social channels either; marketers who rely on email campaigns are creating mobile-friendly experiences for their subscribers too.

Having mobile-optimized content will become even more crucial to business owners as millennials and Gen Z grow in buying power. These generations are highly connected and make up a large part of the population. Keeping your customers’ information private should be of paramount importance to your company. Consumers generally put a lot of faith in their transactions, assuming that a company is trustworthy and engaging in best practices. So, it’s important to have systems in place to keep customers shielded from activity that could compromise them in any way.

10. TikTok

It’s hard to believe that TikTok only went viral three years ago. TikTok has been a welcoming platform for cultural influence. While it has its own demographic, the lines around this are a little fuzzier than they are with LinkedIn or Twitter. The platform is also launching a number of new features for marketing and advertising, making it easier for organizations of all sizes to participate. An astounding 67% of marketers plan to uplevel their investment in TikTok for the balance of 2022.

Creators are using it to sell, educate and connect people to brands and products. It has a real come-as-you-are feel that many users find comfortable and appealing. The University of Melbourne promotes registration by allowing student takeovers on their account, a clever way to help future students learn about campus life. TikTok isn’t the place for highbrow or polished content. It prides itself on being a no-frills platform.

Using Marketing Trends To Improve Your Visibility

Trends are there to serve as a guidepost and point us in new directions. There’s no need to get overwhelmed and try to do everything at once, however. They serve as a reminder to stay open to change and continually evaluate marketing tactics as you go. There are many trends that won’t be suitable for your business or will be less important to your long-term success. Choose wisely so you don’t spread your efforts too thin. In the end, it’s better to manage a few things really well.

Need an evaluation of your current marketing tactics or assistance coming up with a marketing plan that’s tailored to your business? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation with our CEO, Erika Taylor Montgomery.

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4 Public Relations And Content Marketing Strategies From Netflix

Here are 4 public relations and content marketing strategies you can learn from Netflix and how to apply them to your marketing collateral.

1. Make it easy to continue. One of the most addicting features about Netflix is that when one episode ends the next begins automatically, and after you finish the series or movie it offers suggestions for what to watch next. With the click of a button you can move to the next show. How can you apply this principle to your business? Make it easy to move from one blog post to the next. Include links to your other marketing collateral and suggest articles for your site’s visitors to read when they get to the end of a page.
2. Easy access.
   

   Make sure your content marketing is mobile friendly to reach the highest number of people.

   You can stream Netflix through your TV, computer, tablet and smartphone. As long as you have an internet connection, you can watch it. The same goes for your business. In today’s world it’s vital that your company site and marketing collateral are mobile friendly and can be easily viewed on tablets and smartphones in addition to computers.

3. Feature your content. When you sign into Netflix, they offer a suggestion of something to watch. Whether it’s a new show they just started streaming or a movie they’re featuring that day, there’s always something right there you can click on to watch right away. For your business, you can apply this strategy by putting your content marketing collateral front and center. Include your blog roll on the home page of your website. Share recent posts on your Facebook page. Post your recent e-newsletter on LinkedIn. Put your content right in front of your followers and fans so all they need to do is read.
4. Visuals. Since Netflix is all about movies and TV shows, visuals come with the territory. But they do more than just offer video to stream. As you browse through available titles, they show screenshots of the movie or show. Visuals are powerful. In fact, research shows that the more you use visuals in social media, the more engaged your followers are. Make sure any marketing collateral you create for your business includes at least one picture and, if appropriate, a video.

Are you as addicted to Netflix as I am? What public relations and content marketing strategies can you take from them to apply to your business?

Do You Need Help With Your Public Relations And Content Marketing Strategy?

If this article has inspired you to take a new approach to your public relations or content marketing strategy, Three Girls Media would love to help. We offer a free, 30-minute phone consultation to discuss your specific business needs. Contact us today to schedule yours!

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