If a cruise ship is taking on water, you can bet that the passengers hope the cruise line has adequately invested in lifeboats.
Public relations (PR) in a down economy is no different. Companies that continue to devote resources to PR during downturns can emerge with stronger brand positioning once the economy rebounds, while those that go dark may struggle to regain traction.
PR investment is important during a down economy for several reasons:
Reputation management: During an economic downturn, businesses face numerous challenges such as layoffs, financial difficulties, and reduced consumer spending. PR helps manage a company’s reputation by maintaining open lines of communication with stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, and the media. Positive PR can help minimize damage to a company’s image and build trust and credibility, which is crucial during tough economic times.
Building trust and confidence: When the economy is struggling, consumers become more cautious with their spending. They seek assurance and want to invest in companies they trust. Effective PR campaigns can help build trust by highlighting a company’s positive attributes, showcasing its resilience, and demonstrating its commitment to customer satisfaction. By maintaining transparent and open communication, PR can foster confidence and encourage consumers to continue supporting the brand.
Differentiation and competitive advantage: A down economy often leads to increased competition, as businesses strive to survive and capture a smaller pool of B2B spending and investment capital. PR can help differentiate a company from its competitors by highlighting its unique value proposition, highlighting its strengths, and showcasing success stories. Effective PR can position a company as a thought leader, innovator, or industry expert, giving it a competitive edge and attracting clients who are seeking stability and reliability.
Employee morale and retention: Economic downturns often result in layoffs, pay cuts, or reduced work hours, which can negatively impact employee morale and loyalty. PR plays a crucial role in internal communications, keeping employees informed about the company’s situation, addressing concerns, and showcasing positive initiatives. By highlighting success stories, recognizing employee achievements, and emphasizing the company’s commitment to its workforce, PR can boost morale, enhance loyalty, and improve employee retention during challenging times.
Stakeholder engagement: In a down economy, businesses face increased scrutiny from various stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and the media. Effective PR helps engage these stakeholders through proactive communication, addressing concerns, and providing transparent updates on the company’s financial health, strategies, and initiatives. By maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders, businesses can mitigate potential negative consequences and foster support, which is crucial for survival and recovery.
Overall, PR during a down economy is essential for maintaining and enhancing a company’s reputation, building trust and confidence, differentiating from competitors, boosting employee morale, and engaging key stakeholders. These factors contribute to the long-term success and resilience of a business, even in challenging economic conditions.
When these two titans join forces, your brand can’t lose
In the fast-paced world of PR, two heavyweights reign supreme – thought leadership and content marketing. These two strategies are often seen as the Batman and Robin of the marketing world, each with its unique strengths, but unbeatable when working together. If your brand is looking to build awareness, nurture relationships, and drive sales, it’s essential to understand how these two superhero strategies differ and why they should join forces.
The Power of Thought Leadership: Be the Batman of Your Industry
Thought leadership is like Batman – the brooding, strategic hero who relies on intellect and influence. It’s all about positioning your business or executives as the experts in your field. Thought leadership doesn’t push products; it pushes ideas. It starts conversations by offering groundbreaking insights, deep industry knowledge, and forward-thinking solutions to industry-wide challenges.
Think of thought leadership as the superhero who swoops in with a compelling, well-researched article that makes people sit up and say, “I never thought about it that way.” It’s designed to build trust and credibility over time, often appearing in high-profile publications or at industry events. The goal is to create a direct connection with the audience through valuable information, not a sales pitch.
This approach is particularly powerful for companies with complex solutions or those trying to establish themselves as visionary leaders in their market. Like Batman’s utility belt, thought leadership is packed with research, statistics, and innovative ideas that can help a business make an unforgettable first impression.
The Charm of Content Marketing: Robin Leaps into Action
If thought leadership is Batman, content marketing is Robin – the energetic, engaging sidekick who’s quick to jump into action. Content marketing focuses on building relationships with customers through consistent, valuable content like blog posts, social media updates, and newsletters. It’s a top-down communication method, designed to inform and engage the target audience with relevant information that positions the company as the go-to solution for their needs.
While thought leadership is about starting big-picture conversations, content marketing is about nurturing existing relationships. The tone is often less formal and more focused on helping the audience solve specific problems. Whether you’re targeting businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C), content marketing aims to deliver useful, actionable content that keeps your brand top-of-mind when the time comes for customers to act.
The secret weapon here? Consistency. By regularly producing engaging content, you’re keeping the conversation alive, and that familiarity builds trust. Over time, this tactic turns prospects into customers, and customers into loyal advocates.
The Dynamic Duo: Better Together
While thought leadership and content marketing can each stand alone, they become an unstoppable force when used together. Thought leadership gets you noticed and sparks conversations, while content marketing keeps those conversations going and turns that initial interest into action. It’s like Batman swooping in to save the day, and Robin following up to make sure the job gets done. Let’s break down how these two work together:
Thought Leadership for Brand Positioning: Thought leadership content, such as expert opinions, research papers, bylined articles, or speeches, positions your brand as a leader in your industry. This content isn’t created to sell directly but to establish authority and trust. It builds credibility with your audience and makes people want to learn more.
Content Marketing for Engagement: Once you’ve captured attention with thought leadership, content marketing steps in to maintain engagement. This consistent, accessible content keeps your audience informed, addresses their needs, and nurtures them toward a buying decision. Blog posts, case studies, how-to guides, and newsletters all keep the conversation going and provide ongoing value.
Creating a Funnel: Thought leadership is typically used higher in the sales funnel, where the goal is to create awareness and attract a broad audience. Content marketing, on the other hand, operates lower in the funnel, guiding prospects toward decision-making by offering practical advice and solutions that lead to conversions.
The key is that both strategies ultimately serve the same goal – building relationships and driving sales. Thought leadership opens the door, creating interest and trust, while content marketing nurtures that interest until the audience is ready to commit.
Why You Need Both for PR Success
In today’s competitive market, brands need more than just a one-dimensional approach to marketing. Thought leadership is critical for establishing credibility and making your brand stand out as an industry expert. Meanwhile, content marketing keeps the conversation going, offering consistent value that turns prospects into customers.
When used together, these two marketing superheroes provide a powerful combination that can elevate your brand to new heights. Thought leadership gives you the big-picture, industry-defining ideas, while content marketing keeps your audience engaged on a day-to-day basis. Together, they form the ultimate duo, ready to save the day for your brand’s PR strategy.
A lead magnet is an attractive offer to get leads and collect contact information. It’s essential for reaching and building relationships with potential customers. Lead magnets offer something valuable to your audience and may take the form of eBooks, whitepapers, case studies, checklists, webinars, and similar downloadable assets.
What Defines a Good Lead Magnet?
Not all lead magnets will deliver the results you want. While it might be tempting to compile a checklist or reading material quickly, the actual effectiveness of a lead magnet lies in the value it provides to your audience. Below are critical aspects of a high-converting lead magnet:
Tailored to your audience’s needs
My colleague Chris Nerney wrote The Key To Writing Marketing Copy That Gets Results to emphasize the importance of knowing your audience. Tailor your lead magnet to the problem your target demographic is trying to solve. A successful lead magnet addresses a pain point or challenge specific to your target audience, making it highly relevant and engaging.
Provides Immediate Value
Emphasize the distinct benefits and practical insights your lead magnet offers. A lead magnet should deliver immediate value to your audience, inspiring them to share their contact information. This fosters trust and enhances the chances of continued engagement and potential customer conversion.
Establish credibility
Lead magnets like industry reports, studies, and eBooks help position your brand as an authority. Support your insights with data and research to reinforce your expertise.
Easy-to-consume format
Choose an easy-to-digest format like a checklist, short guide, template, infographic, or quick video. If you present the information in a readily digestible way, users are more likely to engage with it quickly and see immediate value, leading to a higher conversion rate.
Compelling title and description
Use strong language that captures attention and communicates the value of the lead magnet. A lead magnet needs a strong title and description since it’s the first thing potential customers notice. A clear, compelling message highlighting the value and benefits can significantly influence their decision to download, ultimately attracting more leads to your business.
Professional design
Ensure your lead magnet looks visually appealing and aligns with your brand identity. A well-designed lead magnet boosts credibility and trust, encouraging potential customers to engage and share their contact information. It showcases your expertise and the value you offer, leading to higher lead generation and a more robust brand perception.
Limited access
Create a sense of urgency. Offer time-limited access or exclusive bonus content. A lead magnet with time-limited access or exclusive content creates urgency by using the “scarcity” effect, tapping into FOMO and prompting immediate action to secure the offer before it’s gone.
Include a compelling CTA
Clearly state what the user needs to do to access the lead magnet (e.g., “Download Now”). Strong call-to-actions (CTAs) drive engagement with your lead magnet. Make it easy for your audience to act by clearly stating the value they’ll gain from downloading or signing up for your offer.
Ensure it’s easy to share
A lead magnet should be shareable to increase its reach and attract more potential leads. Users sharing valuable content with their networks amplify your exposure, bringing in new prospects at no additional cost.
In Conclusion
Lead magnets are essential for capturing and nurturing leads by offering value in exchange for their contact details. Experimenting with different formats and promoting your lead magnet across various platforms is crucial for maximum reach. Platforms like HubSpot offer templates to jump-start your success.
Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications and Greg Miller, vice president of business development at Carta Healthcare sit down for a fireside chat to discuss navigating the evolving landscape of healthcare marketing and industry events. They explore the changing dynamics of conferences like HIMSS, HLTH, and ViVE, emphasizing the importance of aligning event participation with business objectives and target audiences. The conversation delves into effective strategies for leveraging social media and digital channels to enhance brand awareness, build relationships, and drive growth, all while highlighting the value of a focused and resource-conscious approach in today’s competitive market.
LinkedIn has evolved beyond a simple job-hunting platform—it’s now a powerful tool for building professional influence and enhancing corporate brands.
But we oftentimes can forget that building a strong presence on the platform is a marathon, not a sprint. Sure, it’s easy to want immediate results, but much like professional relationships, growing your LinkedIn influence takes time, patience, and persistence.
In my time working at Amendola, I’ve seen how an active LinkedIn presence can open doors, foster relationships, and position individuals AND their companies as industry thought leaders. When employees are engaged and visible on LinkedIn, they’re not just investing in personal growth—they’re actively driving results for the company.
As the human face behind the brand, employees can foster more meaningful interactions than brand channels alone. Research supports this, showing that content shared by employees has far more reach, receives more engagement, and generates more leads than content posted by the company itself:
81% of B2B buyers consider LinkedIn a significant source of research before making a purchase decision (Fronetics).
Employees on average have 10 times more connections than their company’s LinkedIn followers (LinkedIn), giving their posts greater potential for expanding visibility.
91% of B2B sales are influenced by word of mouth (Demandbase), underscoring the power of employee advocacy in generating authentic and impactful engagement.
Looking to help your employees not only build their personal brand, but also contribute directly to the company’s overall success? Here are a few strategies we recommend to our clients that have proven long-term impact.
Optimize Your Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is your personal brand’s landing page. Ensure it’s fully filled out with a professional headshot, a concise yet compelling headline, and a detailed experience section. A polished profile elevates both your credibility and your company’s reputation. Here are some other elements to consider:
Add a header image that aligns with your professional brand
Include keywords in your headline and/or summary
Avoid using overused buzzwords/phrases
Personalize your URL, shorten it and add to your email signature
Be somewhat selective when choosing skills and endorsements
Provide details about education, qualifications, volunteer experience and accomplishments, but avoid bragging.
Share Valuable Content
What you post on LinkedIn should provide value to your network. Share insightful articles, industry news, and your perspective on current trends. When you do this, you position yourself—and by extension, your company—as a thought leader.
Consistently sharing valuable content helps attract potential clients and partners. I recommend following the 80/20 rule: 80% of your posts should deliver value—sharing industry news, thought leadership, and relevant insights—while only 20% should promote you or your company’s offerings.
Remember: LinkedIn is a space where professionals come to learn, engage, and connect—not just to be sold to. My colleague Brandon Glenn explains the 80/20 rule in more detail here.
When posting an update to LinkedIn, keep these optimization strategies in mind:
Post frequently (at least one time per week – five is optimal), focusing on quality over quantity
Two posts that offer followers valuable insights are better than five posts that promote products
Offer informative, insightful, inspirational content; users are looking for information and education
Optimize posts by including an attractive image, graphic, or video; ensure text is legible
Include a stat, quote, or interesting line at the beginning of the post from the article rather than the title to make your post stand out
Ask questions to encourage conversation.
Engage, Comment, and Share
It’s not enough to post and log off. Engagement is key. Comment on industry discussions, share others’ posts, and add your perspective. By actively participating in conversations, you’re not only building relationships but also increasing your company’s visibility.
Stay Active and Be Consistent
LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards consistency. Make it a habit to engage with the platform regularly, whether by posting, liking, or commenting. A consistent presence keeps you top of mind within your network, and the more visibility you gain, the more likely it is that people will associate your company with thought leadership.
Invite and Follow New Accounts
Expanding your network is crucial. Don’t limit yourself to people you already know—reach out to professionals in your industry, potential clients, and partners. Joining relevant groups and becoming an active participant in discussions can also help you gain recognition and authority. A growing network is mutually beneficial, exposing you and your company to new opportunities and increasing your company’s influence in the industry.
Be Patient
Building a strong presence takes time. You won’t see overnight success, so stay patient. As your network grows and your engagement increases, so will your influence—and by extension, your company’s credibility.
When employees are active on LinkedIn, it creates a ripple effect. Every post, comment, or share contributes to your company’s overall brand presence. In B2B, trust and relationships are everything. The more employees position themselves as experts, the more the company is seen as a leader in its field.
Remember: LinkedIn growth is a marathon, not a sprint. Building influence and trust takes time. Every thoughtful interaction you make adds up over the long run – and sets you up for long-term rewards for you and your company.
You’ve done the hard work of crafting a public relations strategy, researching the right media targets, and pitching the story to journalists.
Reporters have responded positively to your pitches and are interested in setting up interviews to learn more about your company and executives’ viewpoints. Now what?
For most companies, and in particular startups, media interviews represent a valuable opportunity to introduce their stories, value propositions, and reasons for existence to a broader audience of potential customers, investors, employees, stakeholders, and other industry participants.
However, executives are sometimes hesitant to engage in interviews because they are reluctant to put in the time to mentally prepare or are fearful that reporters will ask them difficult or confusing questions.
The good news for health IT leaders is that there is little to fear. By doing a little homework and preparation prior to a media interview, executives can approach the event with calmness and confidence.
The following are four preparation tips to ensure media interview success:
Turnabout is fair play: Once the interview starts, the reporter will ask many questions of you. Before the interview, take advantage of the opportunity to gain clarity about reporters’ intentions by turning the tables and asking them a few questions. Who is the publication’s audience? What is the reporter interested in talking about? Will she share a list of questions prior to the interview? Do your diligence to make sure the opportunity is worth the time.
Get to know the reporter: Take some time to perform a little pre-interview research about the reporter, browsing through her bio or LinkedIn profile. Read through some of the articles she’s previously written. By getting a feel for the reporter’s background and interests, executives gain fodder for rapport-building pre- and post-interview small talk, demonstrate that they value the reporter’s time and work, and set the stage for follow-up coverage.
Craft talking points: As the one asking the questions, the reporter is generally in control of the interview, but that doesn’t mean that the interview subject is merely along for the ride and must go wherever the reporter steers the conversation. Executives should come prepared with a few basic talking points that expound upon the problems they solve, the negative consequences of those problems for their customers, and why their solution is the right choice to solve these problems. Talking points should be quick, straightforward, and conversational. Repetition of key points is encouraged.
Follow-up and promotion: During interviews, executives often make points or cite statistics that require further clarification or verification by reporters. Be sure to follow up to see if the reporter needs any further information. After the article goes live, promote it through all available channels, including social media, company blog, website, and email to customers and prospects.
Unless your company is an industry giant or a household name, opportunities for media interviews don’t come along that often. When they do, set yourself up for success by investing the necessary time and effort into interview preparation.
For more media interview preparation tips, check out this post from my colleague Philip Anast.
