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Do you know what helps increase your search engine ranking? (which let’s be honest, every business owner wants to do). You already know where we’re going with this from the blog post title… PR helps a lot. But how? Well… When we think about SEO/search engine marketing, there’s the technical aspect, then off-page SEO. Both these aspects have an equal influence on your search engine ranking, and when combined, well, you’re flying. Off-page SEO The single most influential off-page action (activity outside of your site that directly influences your SEO) for your website is to build high-quality, followed links through to your domain. There are several link building techniques, but having a strategy goes a long way. Link tactics are far too extensive to cover in this post, but some proven techniques include getting involved with local events/charities and being included in a blog post or partners page, local business directory links (don’t go overboard with this, though), and creating valuable resources or content that other sites will want to link to. In the past few years, companies have largely focused on hiring dedicated off-page, link-building specialists to do this. In many cases, this is still effective, and we’ve seen first-hand the positive effect this can have on keyword and search engine rankings. Something we will say though, link building is pretty damn time-consuming. Where PR and SEO collide Ultimately, some of the best links that can point to your site come from digital news publications – whether this is national, regional, local or industry media. Here’s an example - PR is of LIT Communication’s key services and we want to appear higher up in the search results for people who type PR agency in Huddersfield into Google. As PR is all about securing media coverage, we’d always include the words PR agency in Huddersfield in a news release for LIT Communication. As a result, if our news story is published on several local and regional news websites (especially if it includes a link), this will have a positive effect on our search ranking for that specific term. Each digital publication has a different policy for links – some include them as standard, some never include website links and others charge a fee to add a link. Bear in mind that Google’s algorithm dislikes any form of paid-for links. News websites have what we call a strong domain. They are relevant, the content is written by professionals and they often cover trending topics. The stronger the domain, the more powerful a link from it is. Although we’re focusing on digital PR for this blog post, print media coverage is important too, but the benefits are different. Print media is amazing at driving brand awareness and can attract more customers to your physical business, online website, or e-commerce store. Print media’s targeting is very defined, and a print news feature is likely to give a higher return on interest (ROI) than digital coverage.  basecamp Let’s begin with the best. If Basecamp’s website copy was an emoji, it would be this 🤤. Can we just take a minute to revel in how they’ve adapted their content to relate to, well… just about every company in the world right now. I own a small business, but if I owned a big(ger) business, I’d already be clicking that black button saying “try it” at the top right. And that’s just after reading the first sentence. If you’re a hard sell, you might make it to “tens of thousands of other companies rely on Basecamp every day” before you hit the coveted button. Let’s also give some praise to the words in bold. Basecamp made Basecamp, to run Basecamp. They built it to solve a problem they had – how all the best companies start. innocent smoothies Every great copywriter knows that whoever wrote the copy for Innocent, is also a great copywriter. Each sentence is friendly, informal, and snappy – perfect for a forward-thinking juice brand. As well as telling everyone that they make a difference, they back it all up with proof. Facts, figures, examples – you name it. uber Steeped in controversy for various reasons, Uber takes a beating from the media. But, we’re talking about content here, and theirs hits the spot. I’m not looking for a job, but I still want to ‘get in the driving seat and make some money’ after seeing this. These simple words inspire action. So much action, that 3.9 million drivers have already signed up. mailchimp Simple, inspiring words that drive action. Mailchimp’s content is nothing short of enticing. They talk the talk when explaining how the tool can solve your problems. But, the real key to the success of their copy is communicating the value they offer customers. SLACK Slack’s copy gives us all a lesson in appeasing customer pain points and relatability. Need to see conversation history to go back and check things? Slack saves each conversation and lets you search through them. Need a way to communicate closely with clients? Keep everyone in the loop on Slack PLanks clothing I love this quote. Front and centre on the ‘Our Story’ page, it epitomises the Planks brand story and triggers all the feels. I don’t ski (mainly because I live in the UK), but if I did, I would relate to this. A lot. It’s not often that you see the Founder narrating the brand story, and in that case, it works like a dream. amika Jeez, I love Amika. And their tone of voice. There’s no complicated hair industry jargon here. Straight away, you know what they stand for - community, confidence, diversity, fun, inclusion and positivity. A solid example of words and design working seamlessly together. nuddy The conversational tone. The humour. I thoroughly enjoy everything about nuddy’s tone of voice and copywriting. “The dream” says this product is something seen only in fantasies. It’s gonna solve two problems in one AND save you time. Goals. northern bloc This, is how you do repetition. Northern Bloc’s website content is ice cool. There are two things you want to do after reading this snipper – taste the ice cream and be mates with Manolo. Leading with this personal element humanises the entire brand and sends your imagination wild. An ice cream lab in the north of England? Take me! Four generations of ice cream maker? It must be bloody good. Ice cream master? Just wow. honest With Honest as the company name, Jessica Alba’s brand does an excellent job of translating that ethos throughout the website copy. With words like safety and transparency used from the off, Honest instantly positions itself as a conscious wellness company for families and lulls you into a sense of security. Their ‘we got your back’ approach is bang on the money here.
To level up your marketing content and hire a copywriter who knows their stuff, contact LIT Communication for a quick quote. Omnichannel marketing is a cross-channel sales/marketing strategy that unites content delivery and shopping experiences across different channels, in line with each stage of the buying journey. For customers, an omnichannel approach ensures an integrated and personalised shopping experience – whether this is in store, via desktop or mobile. This customer experience-centric strategy focuses on forging a positive relationship between customer and brand and promoting products in a way that best suits the customer. Using this method, a customer could find a product online using their computer and then use their mobile to find the exact location of the product within a store. This improves both the speed and simplicity of their buying experience and means they have a positive experience that suits them. Someone else, on the other hand, might want to ring to check whether a product is in stock, then order direct delivery from the store to their home address. Here’s an example of how omnichannel marketing is used to encourage customers to make a purchase: Example customer journey
The difference between omnichannel marketing and multichannel marketing Multichannel marketing is a term used to describe sharing information about your brand, product or services through multiple channels. If you have an e-commerce store, each channel in a multichannel strategy is considered as an independent purchase opportunity. It’s worth noting that multichannel puts the brand at the core of marketing activity. This strategy usually results in increased engagement from customers, rather than purchases. On the flipside, omnichannel marketing puts the customer at the core of marketing activity and ensures that that the customer experience is unified and consistent through all channels and content. This integrated strategy ultimately results in conversions. The rise in omnichannel marketing As consumers increasingly desire personalisation and consistency, omnichannel marketing is ever-growing in popularity. The unison between on and offline means offers, pricing strategies and familiarity are expected as standard to gain trust – whether customers are physically in the store or shopping on mobile devices. Google has confirmed that about 85% of online shoppers start a purchase on one device and finish on another.  Writing an effective press release is important if you want to get your company’s voice heard and proactively reach a wider audience. People remember great stories, so when the time comes that they need your product or service, they’ll think of seeing your news and achievements in the media and consider your company for their needs. That said, writing a press release is easier said than done and there are a few key elements that each release should contain before you pitch it to your target media publications. 1. A unique news hook One of the most important elements of any press release. Having a unique news hook/angle is what differentiates your news from being published and not being published. It’s easy to think that everything your company does is immediately newsworthy, but that’s not the case. When evaluating how interesting your story is, put yourself in your target audience’s shoes and consider whether other people would find it interesting. Even better, run your idea past a PR specialist to sound it out, or look online and see if similar topics have been covered. This will give you a good indication of whether your news will be picked up by the press. 2. A newsworthy headline When it comes to pitching a press release to the media, a catchy headline is the first thing that will entice a journalist to open your email and read more about what you have to say. Headlines also offer a chance to be fun and use a play on words to draw people in. Even better if your headline of choice makes people smile. Keep it short, snappy and don’t give too much of the game away in the press release header. 3. Supporting information This is the who, what, where, when and how of your press release. Once journalists and readers are hooked in by the headline, they’ll want to know the essential background information about your company and the news story in question. Make sure you put yourself in the reader’s shoes for this section and fill in any gaps that your headline and introduction haven’t covered yet. For example, if you’ve won an award; where was the ceremony held? Who were you up against? Who was judging the awards ceremony? 4. Insightful quotes A great press release should also include a couple of quotes that add value to your release and offer new insight to your readers. If you’re partnering up with another organisation, a quote from your companies CEO along with a high-profile contact from the other company will go hand-in-hand. If you’re writing about winning an award, a quote from the CEO and a member of the judging panel will both make great additions to your story. 5. A selection of great photographs A great photograph is vital to securing media coverage (especially in print publications). If you can include several high-quality, relevant photographs in your press release then it has much more chance of success. Visuals will make your story more visual and allow readers to put faces to names – humanising your news story. Professional photography is also best but not always attainable for smaller businesses with a minimal marketing budget. In this case, use a high-quality phone camera and take several images, selecting only the best for inclusion in your press release. For advice on getting your company news into the media and, email Sophie at LIT Communication - a Huddersfield PR agency, at hello@litcommunication.com  1. Curate your brand’s social media content As we know, business owners can be very, well… busy. Marketing your brand easily falls to the bottom of the to-do list when you’re spending time doing your day job and other admin that comes with it. LIT Communication can make sure your social media accounts are populated with daily social media content to keep engagement levels high and attract new audiences through your key channels. 2. Craft an attention-grabbing press release Do you have some news to shout about, but you don’t know how or where to shout about it? We can start by drafting a press release that tells a concise story and helps voice your business achievements, ready to send to local, regional or national journalists who’ll be interested in publishing your news. 3. Write content for your blog As you might have realised by reading through the LIT Communication blog – we love to write! And what better way to do put our skills into action then helping you populate your own website’s blog (which will also directly influence your site’s SEO). We’ll incorporate the keywords people use to search for your business online and offer tips and advice to your audience to help grow your brand’s digital authority. 4. Pitch your story to the media – local, regional & national Once we’ve drafted a press release, we use a bespoke pitching process to present your news to the media and liaise with the right editors to help you secure coverage, interviews and media features. Whether you’re looking for local, regional, national or industry press coverage, we can help you with everything from Huddersfield-based PR to national industry pitching. 5. Write catchy email marketing content Email newsletters are important for letting your new and loyal customers know what’s going on behind the scenes and announcing new products, services or events. Let us tackle your email marketing content by writing unique newsletters that engage your audience and drive clicks through to your website. 6. Social media coaching Do you want to get social but don’t know where to start? LIT Communication can provide social media coaching for the channels you want to use – and even come into your office to deliver the training to you and your staff; meaning you can be a Twitter-pro or a LinkedIn whizz in no time at all. 7. Write an impressive awards entry Awards are a great way to get recognition for your brand and the hard work you put into growing it. We also know that they can be time-consuming and difficult to do if you’re not used to writing long awards applications. We’ve helped several businesses enter and win a plethora of industry and local awards and are ready to help you do the same. Contact us today to enquire about local PR services and awards entries and how we can support you with this. 8. Secure guest author opportunities Building your brand’s authority is a challenge for many business owners, and authoring articles on industry blogs and news websites is an excellent way to help you achieve this. We’ll pitch bespoke topics to popular and relevant publications, and help you write or proof these to meet demanding editorial guidelines. 9. Create graphics and logos for your small business One of our newest services – we can design the perfect graphics, business cards or logos for your small business, and even put you in touch with local printing experts to help see your project through from start to finish. 10. Build relevant, quality links pointing to your website Does your SEO need a boost? LIT Communication has vast experience in off-site SEO and building quality, relevant links to your website (one of Google’s key performance indicators) and can help you start climbing the rankings and getting featured more online. If you’re on the search for a PR and communications agency in Huddersfield, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us directly at hello@litcommunication.com  |