Category: Public Relations

5 Technologies That Will Change How You Do Public Relations

Technology is evolving all the time and affecting all of the industries that rely on it. The world of PR is no exception.

Anticipating how technology will evolve in the years to come and how to leverage various technologies in your PR strategy is crucial if you want your brand to stay relevant. Below are 5 technologies that will change how you approach public relations. These should be on the frontline of your strategy if you want to stay ahead of the competition.

Social Networks

Social media’s growing popularity has been one of the primary tools that PR professionals use worldwide. There are no inclinations of it changing anytime soon.

With some platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, experiencing some declines in recent years, the gap has been filled with new giants, like Snapchat, Reddit, and LinkedIn. However, the distribution channels of these platforms have evolved over the past decade and so have the PR departments that rely on them.

In general, there has been a major shift from organic to paid content. This means PR professionals have to regularly revise their budgets allocated to paid media.

The rise of social media messaging tools has given the PR industry a whole new channel to reach potential customers. This trend will likely become a crucial PR strategy as 62% of millennials feel more loyal to brands that message them on social media.

In addition, PR professionals have started using social media as a way to monitor brand reputation and news. Social platforms are an effective way of connecting and communicating with your audience. As such, monitoring social media helps PR professionals to get an idea of what people think about a brand so that they can adjust their strategy accordingly.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that aims to mimic what humans do, think, and say. It is anticipated that AI will have infiltrated every industry and aspect of society in 30 years’ time. This means that the PR world will also need to adapt and probably use AI for various purposes.

For example, you could use AI to leverage millions of gigabytes of data in real-time to write insightful copy and target audiences in a much more sophisticated way – without human assistance.

Analyzing Information

The rise of AI is deeply intertwined with the development of big data. Big data refers to the minefield of structured and unstructured information that is available for organizations to comb through for valuable insights.

For companies to intimately know their audience’s needs, wants and preferences, they will need to use AI tools to comb through large amounts of data and provide highly targeted content to users.

Since PR relies heavily on expertly crafted communication, this ability will become quite crucial in any PR strategy. Today, big tech companies, like Facebook, are already doing this. They target users through ads and content that are tied to their likes and dislikes. However, in a few years’ time, we will likely see this trend in PR around the world.

Email

Compared to other platforms, email has seen little innovation in recent years. However, certain future advancements will keep this platform relevant.

In the next few years, we can expect increasing personalization and targeting through the use of big data. This will enable PR professionals to send highly targeted emails to potential leads and recurring customers.

Email will also become more interactive, featuring highly clickable elements, which will boost engagement. Increased automation is also on the horizon, with greater leveraging of information and natural language processing.

This will take much of the monotonous work off of the hands of PR professionals. It will allow them to focus their energies on problem-solving tactics and industry analyses.

Video Content

Since the emergence of Web 2.0, video content has ruled on the majority of social media platforms. According to research, 60% of millennials prefer to watch a video rather than read a newsletter. Additionally, 56% of consumers believe that if a company has a website, it should have a video.

Many businesses and organizations have had immense success communicating via video, particularly by producing video news releases (VNRs) and brand journalism videos.

With live streaming also gaining popularity, audiences now have the opportunity to tune into events as they are happening. They can experience raw, unfiltered imagery of the topics they are interested in.

So, for PR professionals to stay relevant, they will have to leverage these cutting-edge technologies. This will help them to accurately communicate their organization’s PR content more effectively.

In Conclusion

If PR professionals want to continue in their quest to reach and retain customers, they will have to form their strategy around the technologies available to them. This also entails keeping up with the evolution of the tech industry and using innovative ways to tell your brand’s story.

Nick Luvera

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Why You Need A Boutique Public Relations Agency

When building a credible brand, you will find that just having an impressive content and social media strategy won’t isn’t enough. In order to stand out, you will need experienced boutique public relations agency.

What makes us different compared to larger advertising agencies? We explore it all in this post.

What Is A Boutique PR Agency?

Boutique PR agencies are usually smaller and more flexible compared to larger agencies. The advantage is greater personal attention and ability to make adjustments on the fly when necessary. Like their larger competitors, boutique PR agencies craft strategic messaging for public consumption. There are endless executable tactics including targeting specific audiences through earned media, like broadcasting, news coverage, interviews, paid advertising and much more in an effort to shape public opinion and brand awareness.

Services That A Boutique Public Relations Agency Offers

Each boutique PR agency usually has ample experience in certain industries. This means they specialize in getting certain brands and companies noticed. The industries can range from real estate, healthcare, non-profit organizations, or construction and more.

Smaller agencies are often times better equipped compared to larger PR agencies because of their diverse experience. Additionally, they tend to offer each of their brands a more hands-on approach.

To be more specific, boutique PR agencies usually offer the following services:

1) Media Training and Representation

PR agencies are fully equipped to help identify spokespeople and train them how to give persuasive and articulate media interviews that convey key messages accurately. This is a really crucial skill to cultivate. It equips brand ambassadors with the right skills so that can take your company to the next level.

2) Content Publishing

In order to create a credible reputation for your company, you need to invest time and effort in communicating with your customers. A boutique PR agency can help with that and draft thought leadership articles and op-eds. Through these, you can convey important information to those that matter on a continual basis. Additionally, PR agencies can also help to get these articles published in relevant media outlets.

3) Community Relations

PR agencies can help to get your brand involved with the community and secure opportunities for the sponsorship or support of non-profit organizations. This helps to create more brand awareness and builds goodwill with your target audience.

4) Media Analysis

By researching what your perceptions customers or target audience might already have of your company or organization, you can better identify areas for improvement.

Boutique PR agencies can help find negative publicity or social media perceptions that are harmful to your brand. Then, they can address the issues head-on before they become a nightmare.

In short, boutique PR agencies can help businesses with:

  • Improving public opinion.
  • Guidance on the best communications avenues when it comes to reaching new clients.
  • Boost brand awareness by implementing effective communication strategies.

The Benefits Of Hiring A Boutique PR Agency

As already stated, Boutique PR agencies usually have fewer employees, but have experienced and seasoned leaders that have quite literally experienced it all. Having thought leaders with extensive experience, who are also your point of contact, has tremendous value.

Additionally, you will also get to work with professionals who truly know best. They know the best ways to boost brand awareness and manage the public perceptions of your company.

The services offered by boutique PR agencies are also more personalized. This is because you can choose an agency that specializes in your industry.

To sum it up, a smaller firm can give special focus to pinpointing specific ways to meet your goals. They won’t use the same umbrella strategy that they use for all clients. In the end, you have to ask yourself if your brand deserves lots of individualized attention or not.

Are you happy with using a communication strategy created for another company? Or would you prefer to have one specifically tailored for your business? If the latter is the case, then hiring a boutique PR agency is the right call for you.

Final Thoughts

Boutique PR agencies are the way to go if you are serious about creating a brand that will stand the test of time. Not only will you get to learn from experienced professionals, but you will also get more personalized services.

Nick Luvera

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Social Media Series: How to Leverage Your Instagram Business Account

With social networks continuing to change the way people act and make decisions, business leaders need to determine how best to connect with their customers and shape their perceptions. Hootsuite claims, “If you’re not taking advantage of social, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.” In this blog post, we will be sharing ways to leverage your Instagram business account to not only raise brand awareness but also increase engagement.

1. Optimize Your Bio

Your bio is one of the first things users see on your page. It is a snapshot that relays the most important information someone should know about you. It sets the brands tone by quickly highlighting who you are, what you do and how to get in touch with you. Strategic marketers may even include a call-to-action (CTA) to entice followers to focus their attention on the next action you want them to take. This CTA is generally a “link in bio” which is a clickable URL that your visitors will use to visit what is your most important online space. This could be your website, a product page, your blog post or podcast. By using a service like Linktree, you can put a URL in your bio so users can access relevant links. The Hoyt Organization, for example, uses Linktree to include links to agency blog posts. Crafting an Instagram bio may sound tedious, but it is crucial for establishing your brand presence.

2. Post Regularly

To keep your followers engaged, you should create a social media schedule.  Determining your social media schedule is critical for strategically planning the content you’ll create and share.  Whether that means you post once, twice, or even three times a week, you should be consistent. This will help your followers learn when to expect fresh content. The Hoyt Organization sticks to a regular posting schedule by highlighting an agency blog post every Wednesday. That way, The Hoyt Organization’s followers know when to expect a new blog post in their feed. If you only have time to post once a week, that is perfectly acceptable. Just make sure your post brings value to your followers and keeps them coming back to your page for more.

3. Share Quality Content

Posting quality content is equally as important as posting on a regular basis. You have to create posts that resonate with your target audience, as this will ensure that they interact with your content. For this reason, you should keep your target audience in mind when crafting posts. You should also create a visual aesthetic for your page with consistent colors and filters so that followers will recognize your brand. Tools like Planoly allow you to engage in “aesthetic planning,” which involves uploading photos and videos to see how they look in a particular order before actually posting them. You can learn more about what Planoly has to offer by reading our blog post,The Next “It” Tool: Planoly.

We hope these tips help you leverage your Instagram business account. If you would like to learn more ways to reach your customers through Instagram, feel free to send us a message.

Stay tuned for our next blog post on how to leverage your Twitter account.

The Hoyt Organization

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Expanding One of the Nation’s Top Four Residential Brokerage Firms into the West

From “For Sale” signs across NYC’s Upper Eastside to celebrity agents on TV’s famed “Million Dollar Listing,” the Douglas Elliman (DE) name is linked to highly sought-after agents and extremely coveted listings. Synonymous with real estate dominance on the East Coast, the firm wanted to head west and do the same. The firm tapped THO to join the team and make this happen.

The Challenge

THO needed to leverage Douglas Elliman’s East Coast reputation to firmly establish, and quickly grow, roots in the West. The goal: expand its reputation and recruit and retain the top agents in both Colorado and California to bring listings and clients to their roster.

The Solution

Attracting and retaining top talent in the industry became the primary focus of the THO-constructed public relations program. The plan was designed to elevate the brand using success stories, agent profiles, and firm-differentiating highlights, making it ‘the place to be’ for successful, results-driven agents.  

THO implemented a multi-pronged approach focusing on People, Property & Platform using the following strategies:   

  • Promote existing, significantly outstanding listings with historical, architectural, or celebrity notoriety;
  • Leverage senior level market expertise to establish DE executives as credible, knowledgeable and seasoned real estate experts;
  • Focus on highlighting the firm’s core value propositions, directly connecting the firm to agents possibly seeking a new home; and
  • Maximize community engagement at high-profile events like Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Evening on the Beach and other Elliman Arts initiatives to accentuate their community involvement.

Results

THO’s initial launch into the market resulted in more than 400 million impressions for Douglas Elliman in nationally prominent outlets such as The Wall St. Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Bloomberg Pursuits, Architectural Digest and more. This program solidified the firm’s reputation as one of the top brokerage firms in both local and national markets.

THO secured profiles and interviews which allowed Douglas Elliman agents to speak to both their actual listings, and their expertise in key neighborhoods. Beyond agent interviews and specific listings, THO promoted numerous notable properties and high-dollar Douglas Elliman transactions, one of which was the sale of a $90 million Holmby Hills estate, the second highest residential sale in LA at the time. THO also garnered significant coverage surrounding Douglas Elliman’s quarterly market reports for the Los Angeles and Aspen regions, guaranteeing the brokerage’s role as a top industry resource.

Takeaways

In well-established markets where numerous brokerages are entrenched in a high-stakes real estate scene, a newcomer could get lost in the shuffle. These few, but important steps can help ensure success:

  1. Develop a brand’s unified voice
  2. Engage and support internal and external company stakeholders
  3. Establish consistent methods for sharing market knowledge and expertise

The Hoyt Organization

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Public Relations Firms Specializing in Real Estate

Working in the public relations industry presents numerous exciting angles. In an ever-changing and ever-expanding industry, it is essential to know the news and trends. This holds especially true in your clients’ industries. This is no exception for public relations firms specializing in real estate.

The following is five reasons why public relations firms specializing in real estate are the only option for your real estate business.

You don’t want a public relations firm to guess their way to success.

Communicating strategically for a business specializing in real estate is not something that you can figure out as you go. You know this, your business knows this, and PR firms with proven experience in real estate know this. The industry is far too complex and too quickly changing to get quality through guess work. PR firms specializing in real estate know that the nuances of the industry can make it difficult to jump into. For example, an agency that focuses on public relations for consumer and lifestyle brands may not have an easy time transferring their knowledge to the real estate sector.

Experience means they already know what’s going on in your world.

As a real estate public relations firm, we have the ability to work in this industry with confidence and proven success. The Hoyt Organization is already monitoring real estate trends. We also are a PR firm representing healthcare, and a public relations firm representing behavioral health. We are a PR firm representing consumer/lifestyle, and a PR firm representing finance. While we are able to be multi-faceted, it is important for businesses seeking public relations firms to find an agency with in-house, proven real estate experience.

You don’t just want content – you want quality content distributed over the right channels at the right time.

Real estate PR firms know the best outlets and reporters to connect with to cover the exciting things happening in your business and the projects you are working on. A large aspect of PR is writing. This could be a press release, or ghost-writing a byline for a principal at a firm. While it’s not necessary to be an expert in everything, real estate and architecture are fields you have to have a solid understanding of before you start writing for high level principals or executives.

They know what you need.

You may be new to the world of public relations. When starting out, you might not fully understand what the impact is. It can be tricky to understand the capacity of public relations work and how it can benefit you if you are otherwise unfamiliar. Unless the agency you’re working with truly knows real estate, they won’t be able to perform at their best. If they’re not well-versed, you won’t see the best results. Finding an agency that specializes in your world will cut back on hours spent trying to understand it, saving you money and increasing the quality of your work in the long run.

It’s a partnership.

Working with an agency that truly understands your industry is invaluable due to the experience brought to the table. Your business is not just hiring them to do your public relations. You’re partnering with them to grow your business, communicate strategically and to bring new ideas to the table. You want any PR campaign to be a turning point for the company.

At the end of the day, you want someone who can be an asset to your business. Find someone who has proven experience with your industry, and can show you their successes.

THO

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