By Alex Altman
Public relations is equal parts science and strategy; a delicate balance of knowing what to say and when to say it. Knowing how to marry these two elements is key to optimizing your PR strategy. With that said, here are 17 insights to inspire your next campaign.
Media Pitches
1) Pitch via Email: 92% of journalists prefer to receive their media pitches via email. (Sword and Script)
2) Show Your Know: 51% of journalists say they’re most likely to pursue a story because the PR professional displayed knowledge of their past work, interests and strengths. (Sword and Script)
3) Rise and Pitch: 61% of reporters prefer pitches in the morning, compared to 30% in the afternoon. (Marketing Profs)
4) Time it Out: The best time to send you release? Between 10 am and 2 pm, when the email open rate is over 45%. (ConversionHub)
5) Case of the Mondays: 63% of reporters prefer to be pitched either on Monday or Tuesday. (Business Wire)
Social Marketing
6) Share Potential: 76% of journalists say they feel pressure to think about their story’s “share potential” on social media. (Webbiquity)
7) Brand Advocates: 71% of consumers who have a positive social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend that brand to others. (Ambassador)
8) Social Service: 33% of consumers would rather contact a company via social media than by telephone. (Ambassador)
9) Social Engagement: 88% of PR professionals claim their businesses or clients regularly engage on Facebook. (Cision)
10) Maximize Sharing: People share content 49% more on weekdays than on weekends. (Social Media Today)
11) Visual = Viral: Content with visual assets is 40X more likely to get shared on social media. (Hubspot)
Influencer Marketing
12) Reviews > Ads: 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation (BrightLocal). Conversely, only 33% of consumers trust online ads (Nielsen).
13) Yelp for Help: For every additional star a business receives on Yelp, it receives a 5% to 9% increase in revenue. (BrightLocal)
14) Word Spreads Fast: Customers acquired via word-of-mouth have a 37% higher retention rate. (McKinsey)
Brand Loyalty
15) Loyal Treatment: 66% of consumers spend more on brands to which they are loyal. (Accenture)
16) Loyalty Counts: 74% of consumers are more likely to engage with brands who provide a higher level of customer loyalty. (Wunderman)
17) Customer Service: 54% of Millennials said they stopped doing business because of poor customer service. (Conversion)