PR Archives - TASC Group

Elevate Your Business with Effective Public Relations Strategies

March 6, 2024

While a solid marketing strategy can deliver short-term gains, long-term brand growth often hinges on a well-executed public relations (PR) approach. PR has the power to shape your brand’s image and foster sustained recognition in the eyes of your audience. In this article, we’ll explore the fundamentals of PR and how it can benefit your business.

The Foundations of a PR Strategy

1. Crafting Compelling Stories

The basis of any good public relations campaign is a clear, strong message, and at the core of every such message is a compelling story. Your brand possesses a unique story and passion that sets it apart. Effectively describing your mission and why it matters is crucial to resonating with the public. According to Forbes, being backed by trustworthy news sources can also help your business growth by boosting its brand awareness.

2. Boosting Visibility

Visibility is a cornerstone of connecting with consumers and building brand awareness. To begin, conduct thorough research to pinpoint your target audience. Understand their behavior, interests, and preferences. This data serves as the foundation for tailoring your PR strategy.

3. Engaging Your Audience

Once your target audience is identified, develop a PR plan that generates content to engage them effectively. Determine their preferred sources of information, whether it’s newspapers, magazines, blogs, or social media. Knowing where your audience gets their news requires an effective media list and informs the content you create to align with their interests. This is key to capturing and retaining their attention.

4. Diverse Goals

While increasing visibility and engaging your target audience are primary PR goals, public relations can help achieve a variety of other goals. Whether you aim to boost product sales, attract event attendees, shift public perceptions, or raise funds for a cause, a well-crafted PR campaign can be tailored to address these diverse goals. Examples of campaign objectives include:

reaching a new audience
ensuring a business becomes known for a particular product, service, program, mission, etc.
increasing sales of or engagement with a particular product, service, event, etc.
improving the image of a company with the general public
counteracting negative press about a company

When to Seek Professional Help

Creating and executing an effective PR campaign can be challenging, especially for those without prior experience. If you’re unsure where to begin or lack the expertise, hiring a PR professional is a wise choice. These experts understand the intricacies of building successful campaigns and conveying your message to the right audience.

Benefits of a PR Strategy

When executed adeptly, PR can yield numerous benefits. It can elevate conversion rates with customers, establish your brand as an authoritative figure in your niche, influence public opinion and policymakers, secure vital funding, and attract new followers and program participants.

A well-crafted PR strategy is a valuable asset for your business, enabling long-term growth and recognition. By incorporating effective PR into your marketing efforts, you can shape your brand’s image, engage your audience, and achieve a range of strategic goals.

How The TASC Group Can Help

If you’re considering professional assistance for your PR needs, reach out to The TASC Group today. Our team has provided counsel to the nation’s most effective nonprofits, social changemakers and cause-driven organizations. We can help you create a PR strategy that amplifies your message to community members, captures your team’s unique voice and reaches millions with your impactful work.

Crafting an Effective Media List for Nonprofits and Mission-Driven PR Campaigns

March 2, 2024

When you have a story to share, reaching a wider audience starts with creating a comprehensive media list. Getting your content seen by potential consumers starts with creating a media list of outlets and contacts from those outlets which cater to your target market.

Six Steps for Creating a Great Media List

Define Your PR Pitch

Start by clearly defining your PR pitch. Whether it’s an executive interview or a product announcement for your non-profit, articulate what you’re offering to the media and why it matters. A well-defined pitch is essential for capturing the attention of journalists and gaining media coverage. Pitch writing consists of persuasion, creative thinking and storytelling. If what you’re sharing is relevant to the journalist, fewer than 200 words and highly readable — think short sentences, bullet points and subheads.

Develop Multiple Angles

Consider multiple angles for your pitch that align with your target media outlets and their audiences. Figure out which approach best aligns with your goals and with those of the journalists.

Choose the Right Timing

Timing is a critical aspect of successful PR outreach. Determine when you want your content to be seen by your target audience. Quick-turnaround outlets like online platforms, daily newspapers, television, and radio are ideal for immediate exposure. For evergreen content, consider pitching to magazine publications. Evaluate your options and choose the timing that best suits your story.

Thoroughly Research Contacts & Outlets

Utilize databases and search engines to identify potential media outlets. Start with broad search terms and narrow down your list as you progress. Pay attention to journalists’ beats, cadence of publication and whether they receive pitches or not. Seek assistance from a PR agency if necessary to define your media list effectively.

Understand Media Roles

Consider the roles of potential contacts within media outlets. Editors-in-chief may focus more on the business aspects of the outlet, while staff writers or assignment editors are often looking for unique stories. Include multiple contacts from one outlet to ensure comprehensive coverage.

Review and Supplement Your List

After compiling your initial list, review it for any missing outlets or contacts. Use online resources like Google or ChatGPT to identify any overlooked opportunities. Continuously refine your list to ensure it’s comprehensive and up-to-date.

Build Your Media List Today!

By following these six steps, you can create a robust media list that will enhance your public relations campaign’s success. A carefully curated media list ensures that your content reaches the right audience, increasing your chances of securing valuable media coverage.

For more insights and expert guidance on PR strategy and media outreach, explore relevant news articles, such as those from A Good Cause and Glue Up.If you have further questions or need assistance with your PR campaign, feel free to reach out to The TASC Group today! Learn more about how The TASC Group’s award winning expertise can help you to strengthen, support and highlight your mission within the communities you serve.

The Anatomy of a Social Media “Riot”

November 1, 2023

By the time police arrived, Union Square was severely overcrowded. Within the park’s nine acres, thousands of young onlookers had gathered for what was supposed to be a gift giveaway hosted by Twitch-personality Kai Cenat. Drawn by the promise of free Play Stations and the chance to meet a social media celebrity, thousands of teenagers had traveled to the park.

When the crowd, predominantly an audience of youthful teenage boys, clashed with police, things escalated quickly. In dozens of videos shared across YouTube and other social media platforms, police collar the young attendees. One video captures a police officer slamming a teenage boy through a taxi cab’s back window. By the end of the day, several people were seriously injured, 60+ people were arrested and Union Square Park sustained over $55,000 in property damage. Cenat, the influencer who had sparked the gathering with posts made on Twitch days before, was charged by police with “unlawful gathering” and “inciting a riot.”

As police investigate this incident further and Cenat faces a court date, it’s worth considering the broader context of social media relationships and the unpredictable power of influencers to catalyze mass action in physical reality. In an age defined by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and dozens of other social networks, what role do social media personalities have in driving people to action? What can happen when an influencer with a cult following asks their followers to do something? To answer the latter, we must first understand the phenomena known as parasocial relationships.

Defined as “a one-sided relationship where one person creates an emotional attachment and invests their time and energy, while the other party doesn’t know of the other person’s existence,” parasocial relationships are a hallmark of social media users, especially younger users post-pandemic.

In a recent study by Wellesley College’s Youth Media and Well-Being Research Lab, researchers found that 90 percent of kids have social media by the time they turn 12 (7th grade for context). With the advent of coronavirus, lockdown and the implementation of remote learning in 2020, millions of teenagers leaned harder on social media to maintain physically distanced relationships and monitor ever-evolving news. In the process, many gravitated to familiar faces, screentime soared and the popularity of specialized, social media personalities rose with it.

These relationships are built on constant content, frequent user interaction and intensely personal exchanges occurring several times a day. Intimacy is key.

Most influencers cultivate a following over time, then use these followers to secure lucrative brand deals and partnerships. While encouraging your fans to buy a product or use a service is commonplace, the power of influencers to mobilize fans in real life beyond just buying a product, to encourage them to go somewhere and do something, is still unpredictable and relatively immeasurable.

In the case of Cenat, he unwittingly baited followers to do something dangerous. What was meant to be a good time, short giveaway and brief interaction, became something much more serious. Another interesting element here, the gathering was sparked by a relatively small medium.

If you’re unfamiliar with Twitch, it’s a social media platform best known for live-streaming events, including video game tournaments and product reviews. The platform hosts approximately 140M active monthly users. For context, that’s 1/3 of X’s (formerly Twitter) monthly audience, less than 1/4 of Tiktok’s and barely 1/20 of Meta’s. Cenat, the influencer at the heart of this scandal, is one of Twitch’s most followed creators. To date, he has over 6.5M subscribers and he posts content daily.

This “riot” resulted from a perfect storm of circumstances. Post-pandemic teens, a diligently followed social media personality, the rise of parasocial relationships, the promise of a free, coveted product, a general lack of awareness about and unpredictability of calls to action on social media – these all melded together to create a moment New York City was unprepared for, yet one we can learn from. As communicators who often partner with influencers like Cenat or work with clients including city departments or public policymakers, we must be prepared.

It is important that we understand how to predict, understand and measure the power these online figures have to mobilize their followers. Frankly, we must acknowledge this power exists in the first place. Most importantly, we must work towards ensuring and encouraging online personalities to use their influence for good.

The Surge of ‘Woke-Washing’ in the Advertising Landscape

November 1, 2023

Last month New Yorkers found themselves immersed in a thought-provoking ad campaign that’s been taking over subway stations throughout Manhattan. Dove, renowned for its commitment to challenging conventional beauty standards, is at the forefront of this advertising endeavor with its “The Pits of New York” and #FreeThePits campaign, strategically launched just in time for the fashion week.

The campaign’s underlying message intended to resonate with women, shedding light on the impact of underarm insecurities, particularly in relation to clothing choices and social activities. Dove’s 2022 Underarm Confidence Survey further reveals a reality that a significant number of women feel subjected to judgment based on their underarms. Society’s fixation on promoting an ‘ideal’ underarm—one that’s hairless, smooth, odorless and evenly toned—adds to this issue.

However, despite campaigns like Dove’s seemingly heralding a positive shift in today’s advertising landscape, they have not been exempt from controversy. A notable instance was their 2017 Facebook ad for body wash, which depicted a Black woman removing her shirt to reveal a white woman. This ad drew immediate criticism from thousands of viewers who perceived it as having racist undertones. While Dove promptly responded and issued an apology on social media, the incident raised concerns about their approval procedures and whether a diverse group of individuals had the opportunity to review the ad before it went live.

PR practitioners, well-acquainted with the challenges of managing public perception, have found themselves at the forefront of these debates when things go awry. A recent case in point is Bud Light, which faced a barrage of criticism due to its association with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In an attempt to salvage its image, the brand resorted to using a meme on social media, ironically mocking its own handling of the controversy. This approach backfired, drawing criticism from both PR experts and consumers alike. It further solidified the perception that the brand was mishandling the situation and jeopardizing its relationships with its customer base and the LGBTQ+ community. Bud Light’s experience is far from unique in the realm of poorly executed campaigns. The infamous 2017 Pepsi commercial featuring Kendall Jenner is another example of a brand missing the mark on social activism.

Dove’s recent campaigns, although well-intentioned, underscore the importance of scrutiny and diverse perspectives. In today’s age of “woke-washing,” brands face the challenge of finding the right balance between impactful messaging and avoiding harm. PR practitioners play a pivotal role in guiding these brands toward authentic connections with their audiences. In this era of heightened social awareness, the lessons drawn from both successful and misguided campaigns serve as valuable guidance for advertisers aiming to create a positive impact.

The Importance of Content Creation for Clients

October 31, 2022

The worlds of public relations and communications are multi-faceted. One of the most important parts of the industry is getting to know the inner workings of your clients so that you can create content that successfully bolsters their reputations and garners positive media attention.

Traditionally, ways of creating, sharing and viewing client content were limited to drafting op-eds, pitch materials and creating fact sheets, among other information providing collateral. As of late, PR and communications professionals have been looking to social media platforms to strengthen their strategies. LinkedIn, Meta (Facebook), Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest are among the most relevant social media networks from a PR perspective.

The benefits of traditional content creation still hold true. Op-eds and blogs are great ways for the public to gain insight through the media into a client’s opinions, thought processes, etc. on different subject matters and can lead to thought-leadership opportunities and partnerships with other like-minded individuals or organizations. The same goes for pitch materials, particularly with quotes or citations, and fact sheets with client information.

Social media has become an integral part of PR and communications plans for many organizations. The content created and social platforms used are dependent on the type of client. Nonprofit, social advocacy, legal and financial clients are more likely to use LinkedIn, Meta and Instagram, while fashion, beauty and consumer/lifestyle brands are likely to add TikTok and Pinterest into the mix.

For example, BlackRock, an American multinational investment company effectively uses LinkedIn to stand out as a thought-leader and advertise their services. Their content consists of infographic clips as well as testimonials. BlackRock knows their audience well, which allows them to curate specific content and decide which social media platforms to utilize. The company understands their audience exists on LinkedIn and is interested in reading niche blogs and learning financial jargon.

ASOS is a British online fashion and cosmetic company with over one million followers and 14 million likes on TikTok. They know a lot of their demographic resides on TikTok. ASOS follows all the trends and is very aware of what their audience wants to see. Their videos are lightly edited which make them more relatable and re-creatable to the audience. They advertise their products through videos of unboxings and styling people in creative environments.

The consumer’s attention span is decreasing due to the rise of social media. People do not want to read long posts or videos, but instead get their information quickly. Knowing the client’s target audience and understanding the idea of palatable content will lead to successful media campaigns. LinkedIn posts for one audience may not work for another, strategies are subjective. It is crucial to understand where a client’s demographic resides in order to produce the best content.