TMPR’s 12 Days of Christmas

Christmas is a time for giving… so here’s the gift of 12 days of PR and marketing tips from us here at Technical Marketing & PR.

 

On the first day of Christmas TMPR gave to me…

 

 

A Partridge in a Pear Tree (The marketing branch of your business)

There are many branches of your business that are key to its success. When it comes to the marketing branch, if you don’t have internal resources, bring in scalable and flexible support when you need it. Find out more here.

 

2 Turtle Doves (Your relationship with the media)

Turtle doves are known for their courtship and loyalty to their partner. This is exactly how your relationship should be with your core media. Deliver on your promises and be available to talk to them at any time. Building good relationships will increase your chances of securing positive coverage. Also in times of crisis, if you have solid media relations they are less likely to be so damaging towards you. Click here for more advice on media relations.

 

3 French Hens (International reach)

International reach is crucial if you’re looking to expand your business into new markets. Social media is one of the most cost-efficient ways of drawing international attention. The web is a huge space and using social media platforms as marketing tools can really broaden your reach. Find out what Facebook means if you’re B2B here.

 

4 Calling Birds (Tweet tweet)

Twitter is a really useful social media platform for SMEs when used correctly. You can engage with your customers, check out the competition, develop your brand image and use it for marketing to a wider audience. Follow us on our twitter to keep in touch, we like to share some useful tips!

 

5 Gold Rings (Winning gold)

We’re so proud when our clients win gold, or are even shortlisted for industry awards. This is a great way to recognise the hard work of your company, to get your name out there and secure some publicity. We can help you identify award opportunities and plan PR around them. Our client Promethean has recently been shortlisted for ICT Company of The Year (Over £3m turnover) at the Bett Awards 2018!

 

6 Geese Are Laying (Bring your brand to life)

Creative copy writing with a sharp technical edge can really bring your brand to life and ensure that your key messages are always heard and understood. Click here to find out more about creating powerful copy.

 

7 Swans are Swimming (Drive your business forward)

Swimming is all about moving forward. Case studies and testimonials can be an effective way to grow your customer base. Potential customers like to know you have customers that are completely satisfied. Find out how to create powerful case studies and testimonials here.

 

8 Maids are Milking (Make the most of your PR agency)

Your PR agency are experts in what they do, use this to your advantage and utilise them for all the help and expertise you can. Regular contact and keeping everyone on the same page is key. See our guide to getting the most from your agency here.

 

9 Ladies Dancing (Moving in sync with your PR agency)

Having a PR plan is important to make sure you and your agency are in sync. A dance wouldn’t be seamless without choreography, so why engage with a PR agency without a solid PR plan? Find out more about getting the most from your agency here.

 

10 Lords are Leaping (Aim high in those search engine results)

Leap high in search engine results by getting SEO right. Since Google’s updates to its algorithm, any decent SEO strategy is based on quality, dynamic, multi-media content, blogs, social media interaction and regularly updated web content. Have a look at our guide to digital PR here.

 

11 Pipers Piping (A consistent flow of content)

Any effective strategy must be sustained, you should always have ideas in the pipeline. One of the first mistakes an organisation often makes when engaging with a PR company in a campaign, is that once there has been a ‘big splash’ things can lose momentum. Work closely with your PR team to ensure there is regular quality output. Check out our guide to getting the most from your agency here.

 

12 Drummers Drumming (Make some noise)

When it comes to PR it’s all about attracting attention for the right reasons and making yourself stand out from the crowd. Use these 12 tips as a starting point to strengthen your marketing strategy and work better with your agency… and if you don’t have an agency, we’d be happy to chat through how you can maximise your internal resources.

 

For more tips like these throughout the year, sign up to our mailing list here. From everyone here at the TMPR team we wish you a very Merry Christmas and every success in the New Year!

We’re Proud to Sponsor Helen

Here at Technical Marketing & PR, we like to do our bit to help those less fortunate than ourselves. In recognition of UK Charity Week, we thought we’d tell you about our sponsorship of Helen Ripley. In 2017 we were honoured to be Helen’s main sponsor on a life-changing two-week trip to Nakuru in Kenya, organised by Derby County Community Trust and African Adventures. The trip was such a success in terms of the difference Helen made, we are proud to be Helen’s main sponsor again in 2018. Here’s Helen telling us a bit more about the work she was involved with on the trip and what motivated her to take part:

 

“This year we went and worked with the Ungana Academy in Kenya and we’ll be going back to the same place in 2018 for two weeks. The school has 320 pupils between the ages of 3 and 16. Some of the children live in houses as small as my bedroom, up to 7 people and no running water. Their toilet is a hole in the ground, and 16 families share this. They live on a diet of mainly rice and beans.

When we’re out there we spend lots of time interacting with and getting to know the children and adults. In our team there are some teachers, and they spend time teaching the children English. This year we were also tasked with taking down an old classroom and building a new one.

We take bubbles, balls and stickers with us for the children, they absolutely love it. It is so heart warming seeing them laughing and playing when they have so little. Many of the children’s back packs are worn through and they have shoes without laces – we try and help out with these as well as basic school stationery. Where we can, we visit some families at home and take them food parcels. They are so grateful. We also cook a meal with meat for some of the families. To you and I this is normal, but they only eat meat on very special occasions, it’s a luxury.

The trip is something I have always wanted to do. I feel like I’m at a point in my life with my family growing up, that I can do it. I will admit I was a little worried that it would be a very emotional experience, and it is. But at the same time, it is so rewarding and so positive seeing how much of a difference is being made to the lives of the children, and how genuinely happy they are to have such basic things. It really makes you appreciate what we have.

The difference we can make to these children’s lives really stood out for me when we were able help a little boy named Clifton from the Jubilee School. His leg had been injured in a car accident and his bone was exposed and infected. Together with the charity Start Small we were able to raise £7,000 to help with his surgery, physio and the after care. Without this he would have undoubtedly lost his leg and died.

I’m really looking forward to going to the school again in 2018, the work we do makes such a difference. I’ve run events such as raffles and discos, all to raise funds for the trip. It’s thanks to the kind donations from people and the sponsorship from Technical Marketing & PR that I am able to support the school again.”

Helen will be heading over to Kenya on 19th May 2018. Though Helen has achieved her goal of £2,500 to be able to go and help with the project, your donations are still welcomed and will really help. The donations cover Helen’s flight, materials and lots of resources. Some of the money will also come back to the Derby County Communities Trust to support children in Derbyshire with physical and mental disabilities. The Trust works with these children through engaging them with sport. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

At Technical Marketing & PR we spend a lot of time working with schools alongside clients in the technology sector. Seeing how lucky children are in this country to have access to the latest edtech only makes it even more important for us to support the wonderful work Helen is doing in Kenya. We wish Helen every success in May and can’t wait to hear all about it.