The 12 Tips of Public Relations and Marketing
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Happy Holidays from Scratch Marketing and Media. In the spirit of giving, my colleague Scarlett and I wanted to share 12 tips to end your 2015 PR and Marketing efforts with a bang.
Merry Marketing Everyone — and Peace be with you and your PR Campaigns!
On the first day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
An End of Year Report — Put a Bow on 2015
Take an inventory of what worked and what didn’t both internally and externally by polling your clients! What were your biggest challenges? What were their’s? Summarize this in a visual graphic, or video and use it as a benchmark of the hottest trends, and biggest don’ts to keep in 2016.
On the second day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Re-gift Successful Content
While you’re mapping your value, take a look at what content performed best — can you re-tool and re-share? Can you expand on tips, best practices, new research or findings? Provide continuity for your audience on material they already enjoyed.
On the third day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Take advantage of the holiday news slowdown.
While it can be tough to get in touch with reporters during the holiday season, there is usually someone working in the days leading up to Christmas, and they are probably short on content. We don’t recommend pushing out major announcements during the last few weeks of December, but it could be an opportunity to place an extra byline or have your CEO quoted in an article that ties back to your core messaging.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Optimize Everything
Is your site where you want it to be? When was the last time you revisited your landing pages, and optimized content and images? What is your current page speed/load time — can this be faster? You should be revisiting keywords every 3–6 months, use the coming of the New Year to test out different words to boost your rankings. Also take a look at your Wikipedia and Wiki-Data pages! Google pulls from these sources when ranking your website, and these pages should be refreshed and updated as often as your site to keep your rankings high!
On the FIFTH day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Got a major announcement — hold it for the New Year!
Many companies realize they have something exciting to announce for the end of the year, but with everyone’s schedules dominated by the holidays big announcements can get lost in the shuffle. Keep those partnership, funding and product announcements up your festive-sweater-sleeves to kick off the new year with a bang.
On the sixth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Clean your databases — ensure that your leads are quality not just quantity.
Hubspot and Get10K Fans both suggest cleaning up your databases to make sure you have the freshest and most relevant leads. Read this case study by Get 10K leads to see why they deleted over 100,000 subscribers and how it improved their pipeline.
On the seventh day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Plan for a better 2016!
While trying to wrap up one year, it’s also super important to look ahead to the new one. Consider what worked, what didn’t and what new initiatives can you bring forward in 2016 to get your client on the map. December is always an exciting time to pull up your sleeves and get creative.
On the eighth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Check your buyer Personas
A lot has changed in a year — are you keeping up with the needs of your customers? When was the last time you surveyed your customers and checked up on their needs and motivations? What new factors could be impacting behavior? Could you use the holidays to test a new campaign or product? Are there a segment of buyers that you aren’t reaching?
On the ninth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Share the gift that keeps on giving: Predictions!
In need of that one last push for the new year? Executives from your clients will always have some interesting thoughts that can be turned into low hanging fruit. As the news cycle slows, reporters will be in need of thoughts on the coming year and where their industry beats will be headed. If you can find a fun angle to tie it to your golden.
On the tenth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
What data from 2015 can you visualize?
Now that you have a year’s worth of blog posts and trends that you have been tracking throughout the year, can you summarize your findings in a visual way? How much content have you provided, or can you visualize your company growth and accomplishments. Count your blessings, leads, and media hits and make an infographic!
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Update your Website
Not just for optimization purposes, but also try to update your site so that content from 1999 or 2011 isn’t still hanging around. Archive old blog posts, press releases or work. Take a look at some of your messaging pages — i.e your company vision page, executive page or careers page. What accomplishments from the previous year can you jazz up your messaging with?
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Scratch suggests to you:
Make sure you’re celebrating all of your accomplishments as a team!
Your team has been so focused on the success of clients, its time to sit back and realize the value that you have added. Our work does not go unnoticed by clients as well as co-workers and it’s a time to evaluate and prep for another successful year ahead. Enjoy time with friends and family and celebrate what’s ahead.
Cheers,
Sofia Coon, Sr. Account Executive
Scarlett O’Sullivan, Sr. Marketing Associate
