Context Public Relations

With another postal strike currently in full swing there are concerns about whether people’s Christmas mail will start becoming affected by the growing backlog. But it’s not only delayed Christmas cards which should be of concern, people who subscribe to magazines may also start to notice a missing copy or two of their weekly or monthly read.

With a majority of PR material being placed in business and consumer magazines there’s a real chance that the press release, article or case study your PR agency took time and effort to place may not get read any time soon - which is not great for your business!

It’s just as well that many magazines have an online format too. This is advantageous in several ways, not only do they help improve your SEO, helping your Google ranking, online magazines - which are completely unaffected by postal strikes - can make sure your stories get out to your potential customers, now rather than later. In light of the recent strike action some magazines are actually offering an online version to their readers to overcome the problem.

So although online coverage doesn’t always seem as glamorous as print, the truth is it is just as valuable - and sometimes even more so!

Tags: Uncategorized by Priya
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Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Bebo, Myspace - we’ve all heard about them and many of us use the sites but do they really have a place in business?

A recent survey has shown that over £1.4 billion in productivity is lost every year in the UK by staff using social networking sites, many claiming they are on them for business reasons, and with the economy in recession can the business community afford so much wasted time?

When we talk to clients about social media we ask them to consider the following:

• Audience - who are you trying to speak to and will they listen to you?
• Resources - who will take responsibility for the media and who will keep it updated? After all once you start you can’t suddenly stop!
• Content - do they have enough to say and will it regularly change?
• Control - Who will control the content? After all it is your business and you want to ensure that anything that goes out fits your company criteria

If you are still not sure get an external company to look at your business and make social media recommendations. It’s very easy to start using these tools and if used correctly they can help new prospects find you and also improve current customer relations. On the other hand, if managed poorly it can have exactly the opposite effect!

Tags: SEO by Rob
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Computer Weekly is currently seeking nominations for its 2009 IT Blog Awards, which showcase the very best in industry blogging.  Dedicating an awards ceremony to the blog really does reinforce its importance as a central element of any marketing and communications plan.

In an increasingly digital age, blogs help to boost those all-important natural Google rankings and are an essential part of any search engine optimisation campaign.  Blogs ensure your website remains fresh and up-to-date, and they give you another more instant and informal means of communicating with customers and your target audience.

Consistency is key, however.  There’s nothing worse than seeing a company blog where the last entry was dated three months ago.  You need to dedicate resource to keeping it up-to-date and relevant with frequent postings, to help position your company as a leader in your field, a true industry player.

With inevitable internal deadlines and day-to-day priorities taking up your time, it can be easier to outsource your blogging activity as part of an overall media relations campaign, to ensure you get the dedicated resource and optimisation expertise you need to get onto that all-important first page of Google.

Tags: Marketing Mix, SEO by Luke
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Whether you’re meeting with a client, a journalist or a partner agency, making the effort to build rapport is a vital part of any meeting. This part of a meeting can often be overlooked as polite necessities, but in actual fact, this is where you can glean some of the best information and is vital for building relationships long term.

Discussing topics unrelated to the meeting agenda allows you to find out more about a person and what else is going on in their lives. Don’t restrict yourself by asking a string of closed questions – keep questions open and try and gather as much information as possible.

For a client this may be the chance for them to tell you all about a new business project they are thinking of starting, that you may not otherwise have touched upon. Equally with journalists or partner agencies, this is a chance to find out a bit more about what interests them – allowing you to find areas of common interest, helping to build a strong, long-term relationship.

So, next time you head out to a meeting, don’t be in such a hurry to skip straight to the agenda – who knows what you could discover beforehand.

Tags: Uncategorized by Debbie
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It was announced recently in PR Week that Ant and Dec are to be the new faces of Nintendo in the run up to Christmas, which in their words is a great combination, “The TV shows we make are for the whole family to watch together. Nintendo make games that the whole family can play together, so it’s the perfect match,” said Dec. 

Twinned with the running of competition that will offer one viewer the chance to star in an ad with the duo, the campaign will no doubt boost Nintendo’s reputation even further, unfortunately not all of us can nab a favourite prime time personality or two to promote our brand.

In the absence of a celebrity it is often a company manager or director who steps up, which is fine when there is a PR representative to re-work any quotes, but in live interviews there is no safety net and with only a few minutes to get in all the neccesary info, i.e. your company name and it’s services, being a strong spokesperson is a skill that needs to be mastered.

This is where media training can really make a difference. Even just a half day training session can teach those new to speaking in public how to condense the information into a short speech and how to mention the company without it sounding like a obvious plug, while ensuring you sound calm and confident at all times.

It’s no great surprise that who a company chooses for their spokesperson is vital to building the correct brand for their business. But whether it’s a celebrity endorsement or the company MD, you need to make sure your spokesperson  always delivers the right message and is on target for your audience.

Tags: Public Relations by Megan
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This week there was a story in the press about how Microsoft has been targeted with a phishing scam, resulting in several thousand login credentials for its hotmail customers being exposed on a public website.

As well as being worried about a possible huge breach in data security - which is bad enough in itself - Microsoft must have been seriously worried about the damage this could have to the credibility of their service and the impact on its business.

Upon learning of the issue Microsoft immediately requested that the credentials were removed and an investigation was launched to determine the impact to customers. Luckily the investigation found that there had been no breach of internal company data and as a result of the attack, Microsoft blocked access to all of the accounts exposed.

This is a good example of crisis management. As well as taking fast action to remove customers’ details, preventing further damage, Microsoft promptly issued a public statement to reassure their customers and partners that measures were being taken to deal with the problem. This not only helped to limit the damage of the situation to the customer, but also to the company.

Unfortunately you can’t always control events in business, bad things happen. But you can control how you respond to them. If you deal with negative situations promptly and in a way which shows your customers and partners you have their best interests at heart, a bad thing needn’t turn into a disastrous thing. By being on the ball you can limit or possibly even eliminate any negative impact on your business.

To find out more about crisis management PR call Context on 01625 511 966.

Tags: Public Relations by Priya
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Reuters, Sky and most of the UK tabloids have been running blogs from Labour’s annual party conference, keeping us updated and amused with the highs and lows from each day’s keynote speeches.

Blogging is another valuable way of engaging with the electorate, and of providing bitsize nuggets of information on the day’s proceedings and key Government pledges. The up-to-the-minute nature of the blog makes it ideal for communicating often heavyweight political stodge. Blogging breaks down the information and conveys it in an informal and quickly understood medium, making politics more accessible and understandable.

Judging by the high search rankings of these blogging sites, they have obviously proven popular amongst the electorate, which has to be a good thing.

And it’s for precisely the same reasons that blogging is so important in the business world; keeping customers updated on what you are doing in a quick, concise and informal way, pointing them to industry news that might be of relevance, and crucially increasing the frequency of contact you have with them, to boost engagement and interaction and strengthen key relationships.  It will also help with your all-important Google rankings and online presence, to help reach a wider potential audience

Tags: Marketing Mix, SEO by Luke
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