Enter synchronised PR and LinkedIn campaigns. It’s a service we’re well-versed in at Midnight Communications, as more B2B companies realise the platform’s potential for reaching niche senior audiences, building brand awareness and generating leads.
In uncertain times, it’s important that brands don’t go quiet on their audiences and inevitably get forgotten. However, it’s equally important to be savvy with your spend and ensure your brand gets the best possible ROI.
Enter synchronised PR and LinkedIn campaigns. It’s a service we’re well-versed in at Midnight Communications, as more B2B companies realise the platform’s potential for reaching niche senior audiences, building brand awareness and generating leads.
LinkedIn’s usefulness as a communications platform is thanks to its huge base of professional users and advanced targeting options for advertising to them. However, LinkedIn’s audience is also discerning and time-poor; more receptive to thought-leadership pieces and industry insight than the bright colours of Facebook and Instagram. It takes skilled professionals with sector knowledge to engage these users, meaning experienced PR professionals are well-placed to carry out this work.
Five more reasons to synchronise your PR and LinkedIn campaigns:
1. Streamlined messaging that tells your story on every level
It is tempting to fit all of your key messages into every press release or article in your campaign, but this is disliked by journalists as it can be too commercial for editorial publication or simply detract from the news angle in a story.
If you streamline your PR and social media content, you can tell different parts of the same story to the press and on LinkedIn. On LinkedIn, you can add some background or analysis that did not make it into the press release but is still valid for your audience.
Remember, your LinkedIn audience has signed up to view your content, while someone reading a newspaper has not! This approach ensures your story is told to its full potential, while keeping journalists happy and willing to publish more of your content in the future.
2. Make your content work harder
When your PR or social media agency creates a piece of content for you, it’s an investment you’re making, so use it wisely. An integrated campaign should creatively repurpose existing PR content to get the best value possible.
Moreover, an integrated PR campaign should be designed with this symbiosis in mind – it should be clear from the communications plan, and how meetings or interviews are structured. This is not just about getting more bang for your buck by reusing old pieces of work – this is a strategy that means all the content you invest in has a destination and purpose.
3. Make the best use of your – and your team’s – valuable time
An integrated campaign means having an agile and collaborative team at your disposal that can effectively kill two birds with one stone, ensuring you are happy with the level of meetings, calls and spokesperson interviews alongside the creative output.
For instance, when we’re setting up an opportunity like speaking at a conference or judging an award, we’ll think about how this will work in our PR outreach, as well as a LinkedIn post and/or blog, and we’ll prepare everything we need to amplify it.
4. Impress your stakeholders – and potential investors
The image of a united front that an integrated campaign creates for a brand conveys professionality and trustworthiness. We work hard to make sure everything from your key messages to brand voice are aligned.
We go beyond the copy to focus on everything from the look and feel of your page to its SEO potential, making sure it is polished, professional and cohesive. If an investor or stakeholder reads about your brand in a trade publication and then finds you on LinkedIn, they should perceive a continuation of the key themes they read about.
5. Avoid anything falling between the cracks – or social media blunders!
As your PR team, it is our job to be fully briefed and aware of any sensitivities, any content under embargo, any topics you would not wish to engage with, and so on. This means your posts go through the same rigorous checks as your press releases – we take every piece of communication seriously.
How to make it happen:
- Planning
Whenever we begin work on a new project, we like to brainstorm as an entire agency, bringing together all the different specialisms within our team. Synchronised PR and LinkedIn campaigns start here, evolving organically through the sharing of creative ideas. When we draft your communications plan, it serves as a basis for your social media plan. - Auditing
Before planning starts, we conduct an in-depth audit of your LinkedIn account, identifying content themes that have performed well with your audience, or any missing gaps in your page setup. We’ll discover which of your key messages resonate most with your audience and make suggestions for aligning the page setup with your PR key messages. - Amplifying
Whenever your PR campaign is entering a new phase, for instance, we have planned PR activity around the launch of a new service, you can depend on your social media to amplify that at exactly the right time. When your campaign has earned coverage, we will always shout about it on social media. We’ll also give your team a chance to get involvedand empowering them to be your brand’s biggest cheerleaders on social media.
On a topical note…
Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few years, you’re likely tired of hearing the phrase “fake news”. In 2021, this is still important, both for PR and social media.
Long gone are the days of PR consultants sending a customary “April Fools press release” to their journalist contacts. Now, more than ever, accuracy and transparency are imperative for public trust.
As skilled PR professionals and members of a chartered institute, we have a deep understanding of this importance. Our team includes trained journalists, and we are all passionate about accuracy and using high quality sources.
In short, you can rely on us to help navigate your brand through the waters of a changing society. Brands that fall foul of social media and trends for all the wrong reasons are a PR consultant’s worst nightmare – so we stay informed and up-to-date with the latest current affairs.
In conclusion
Planning an integrated PR and LinkedIn campaign is about a lot more than saving on costs by having two services under one roof (although it certainly achieves this). This is true for any social media platform, but especially for LinkedIn due to its base of professionals.
Communicating effectively on LinkedIn as a B2B brand means delivering your key messages directly to your target audience – much like appearing in a magazine for your trade.
PR professionals take the time to get to know your business, its voice and areas of expertise. We think about more than how to populate the page with regular posts, instead planning creative strategies that align with your goals.
We can help you tell a brilliant story, impress stakeholders, create a sense of brand identity, or simply grow. The possibilities are endless…
