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Reclaiming Your PR in 2020

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If you feel like you’ve spent 2020 putting out fires and throwing your PR and marketing plans out the window, you’re not alone. 
 
Our team was geared up to celebrate a huge milestone: McKeeman Communications’ 25th anniversary. We had extensive plans to share stories, reconnect with past clients and celebrate a quarter century of success. 2020 had other plans for us, and at first we thought we needed to scrap our entire strategy and start from scratch.
 
But that wasn’t totally true. We realized we could take back our 2020 marketing plan and repurpose several of the tactics that we thought would have to wait until our 26th anniversary. Even if the approach looks a little different, you can successfully reclaim your 2020 plan with these three opportunities:
 
Turn your planned event into a virtual one. Just months into the pandemic, Forbes reported that virtual events were up 1000 percent. Schools, sports, nonprofits — even major political arenas like the Democratic and Republican National Conventions have jumped into the unknown of virtual hosting. After executing events for clients, we’ve come away with some best bets: 
  • Find reliable technology. There’s nothing worse than freezing when you’re about to make your most important point — well, maybe there is something worse: watching hackers take control of the event you worked so hard on.
  • Keep the event short and entertaining. When tuning in, your audience will be fighting the urge to check email, Facebook or dinner on the stove. Offer door prizes to those who engage or stick around until the end or have fun music as people are entering the event.
Don’t give up on social. Do you feel like you’ve been on social media more than ever? You’re not the only one. The most recent Harris Poll, conducted from March to May, found between 46% to 51% of adults in the US were using social media more than they were before the pandemic. Social media is where people get their news, it’s how they communicate and it’s even how they shop. If you haven’t already, jump at this opportunity today with these first few steps:
  • Develop a social media calendar. Don’t just focus on selling – focus on your people, your customers and telling your story.
  • Create strong visual content. This could be images, graphics or, even better, video (it has the highest organic reach).
  • Invest in social media ads. Fewer than five percent of your followers will see your average organic post. Ads and boosts help cut through the clutter and get in front of new audiences. Ads have more targeting options, so the quick tip is to test those first!
Seek out traditional media. Thanks to the pandemic, television viewing is on the rise in 2020. It’s the first increase for TV viewership in almost a decade. In a media world filled with serious headlines and heavier updates, audiences fixated on their television screens are begging for good stories — a brighter side — to escape our new reality. Share your good news, your wins, your losses – take this opportunity to be vulnerable with the media and get your story out there.
 
Still not convinced or overwhelmed at the thought of some of these tactics? Our team is happy to be your thought partner. It’s who we are — freakishly, curious problem-solvers.
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