FAQ

Public Relations | Marcom | Analyst Relations

Public Relations

Is PR measurable?

Of course it is, and don't let any PR consultancy tell you otherwise. The effectiveness of a PR campaign can be measured in many ways, including by:

• Press perception audit - interview target press at 6-12 month intervals to gauge the perception and the use it as a benchmark to compare in 6-12 months how the campaign is working
• Customer perception audit - the same process as with press audit, but you target a combination of existing and potential customers
• Media coverage analysis - to calculate how many cuttings, how many column inches, whether it is positive or negative, and the equivalent advertising value of the space
• An increase in lead generation either through inbound sales calls or via your website.

Why do I need media training?

You will have heard lots about The Premiership footballers and pop stars getting media training these days, and it really is worthwhile. Investing in a one day media training course at the start of your PR campaign will ensure:

• Your spokespeople gain a thorough understanding of how the media works, including the pitfalls and what should and should not be said
• Your spokespeople and senior management learn to communicate your corporate and campaign messages effectively and consistently
• Each PR opportunity can be maximised by well trained spokespeople aware of the workings of the media, increasing your chances or a good piece of press coverage.

Insight runs a specialist media training programme with courses to suit all levels, using experienced trainers and professional journalists

Will I get to see press coverage about my company before it is published?

No you will not. It is not normal practice for an interviewee to get sight of an article or news piece before it goes to print. The only exceptions are usually when a technical or detailed piece has been written and the journalists may want it to be checked for accuracy reasons.

If you ask to see the copy, you may find that you annoy or offend the journalist so much so that they drop your piece and do no use it.

Again with proper media training we can ensure that the final news piece or article is no surprise to you when it does come out.

If I have a limited budget, is PR or advertising better value for money?

On a limited budget, you will find that you get "more bang for your buck" with PR. Advertising rates, even in this economic climate, can be astronomical even for the vertical press. An article about your company will be read and believed by many more people than an advert about you.

We are a new company and don't have any customers yet, would there be any point in us starting a PR campaign yet?

Insight represents a number of start-ups with few or no customers. A carefully planned and implemented PR campaign will result in positive press coverage, which is very effective at giving new or potential customers confidence in you. There are a number of ways we can do this. We can:

• Position you as experts in your field by getting opinion pieces by-lined to you printed in your target press
• Commission research on your technology or industry, or write a white paper
• Get your comments and products listed in feature articles in magazines
• Invite you to speak at roundtable events on an industry issue important to your customers - position you as thought-leaders alongside some of our household name clients
• Sell your spokespeople in as high-level speakers at exhibitions and conferences (Insight Speaker Bureau).

How do you generate press coverage about us?

Press coverage can be generated in many ways, but the following are a number of tools we use to do this:

• Issuing press releases with news about your customers, your products/services or your company
• Proactively sell you into forthcoming features about your industry, your technology area or something relevant to you
• Put together and sell in case studies about your customers and how they use your products and services to improve their competitiveness
• Invite press to meet you and your customers at an event or a roundtable
• Sell in opinion articles about your industry by-lined to you.

How much commitment do I need to give to my PR campaign?

This is a two way process, and unless you have some time to commit to your Insight PR team on a regular basis you will be wasting your money and our time. The way to get the most out of your PR campaign is to work closely with us, make yourself available, be responsive and above all be positive about the opportunities we create for you.

What is a retainer and why do PR consultancies invoice that way?

A retainer is exactly what it says it is. You wish to retain our time, so in advance you pay us for the number of hours, in the following month, that you wish us to spend on your PR campaign.

This is normal practice in the PR industry and means that your own team is always available to you when you need them.

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Marcom

1. How do I know I am not spamming?

In outline you can email market customers with whom you have an ongoing business relationship.

You can also email people who have requested, either directly with you or through a list broker, to receive information about products and services of the type you offer.

There lists are not easy to find and harder to verify. Insight has established relationships with reputable suppliers of lists and can help you establish your own opt-in list of contacts.

2. Not every one can read HTML mail - doesn't this undermine email-marketing techniques?

The results speak for themselves. Insight regularly achieves above the 10% standard click through rate for these types of campaign.

However, Insight is careful in the construction of its email messages to ensure that those who cannot/ will not read HTML receive a meaningful message.

3. Attending exhibitions often costs me a fortune and very rarely pays, however, I still find a need to attend them - does Insight have any suggestions of how I can make more of this investment?

Although exhibition organisers offer a lot of marketing support, their aim is to make the whole exhibition pay.

Your needs are not their priority. Insight has developed a bespoke package of support, that starts before you put your exhibition plan together to focus your message and then put in place techniques which give you an unfair advantage when the exhibition organisers start their own marketing.

4. How can I generate more traffic to my web site?

Insight has been working with clients over many years testing what does and what does not work to drive traffic to business sites.

We have combined that track record into a package of support that ranges from add-ons, which help make your site sticky through to search engine optimisation.

5. I am about to undertake a branding exercise, who is the most important people to have on board before I begin?

Insight has learned that there are no shortcuts in this type of exercise. You need to have the board behind you and you also need operational buy-in from your development, sales and business support teams.

It also pays to gain some investor and customer buy in for your project to help focus and refine the solution you develop.

Insight has developed a six-step approach for success in branding which you can download from the site that should help set you off in the right direction.

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Analyst Relations FAQS

1. Why are the industry analysts an important audience?

It's the industry analysts that most companies turn to when they're looking to find out what the best products are out there in the market.

By putting in place, a dedicated programme of communication -focused on the industry analysts - you are increasing your chances of :

• ensuring a positive and extensive profile for your company in the research reports used by potential technology buyers
• being included on the short-lists of potential suppliers that the analysts put together for their consulting clients

And their influence doesn't end there. You might also benefit from some brand-building on the side. Not only are the industry analysts listened to by every serious print and broadcast journalist, but they attract some of the biggest audiences at major industry conferences. That's because the analysts are the gurus that everyone turns too when they want an expert opinion - including the press.

2. How influencial are the analysts really?

According to Kensington Group, it is conservatively estimated that analysts impact 40-60% of sales on average for commercial vendors.

Source -Kensington Group, Inc -"The Influence Imperative in IT and e-business", Norma LaRosa and Efrem Mallach, 1 March 2001

3. My PR agency already invites them to press briefings. Isn't that enough?

No. Too often, companies treat the industry analysts as journalists, targeting them in the same way they do the press. They don't recognise that they are a distinctive audience which needs careful targeting if you are to realise the full force of its influence.

An industry analyst has different needs to a journalist. They want different types of information, they operate to different timescales, they have different interests. The information they produce is quite different in form, in content and in purpose.

Treating the analysts in the same way as you do the media just proves to the analysts that you don't consider them to be an important audience.

4. Who are the key analysts?

That depends. There are a number of global analyst firms who tend to cover all areas of the IT industry. But there are an increasing number of smaller firms which specialize geographically (eg, UK or Europe) and / or by sector (eg telecoms, software, manufacturing).

Determining who your key analysts are depends on what it is you're looking to sell and who it is you're wanting to influence.

5. My firm handles analyst relations from the US. Why should I also talk to them in Europe?

European analysts tell us that the real benefits of having analyst relations handled locally are :

• they are likely to get localised content and access to local spokespeople which are more relevant to their needs, and
• they get people dedicated to serving their needs

Even though the majority of Tier 1 analyst houses (Gartner, IDC and META) are headquartered in the US, they are now globally oriented with analysts based around the world. If we take IDC as an example, it has analysts based in centres of excellence in four European cities. The research they conduct here focuses very much on Europe and is then pooled centrally - with information from the analysts in the US and Asia-Pacific
- to provide the global picture when necessary
So, simply briefing the US analysts and expecting them to spread their knowledge worldwide is a high-risk strategy. At least one of our clients has learnt this lesson the hard way!

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