How to get PR mileage from the General Election
To maximise the PR opportunities presented by the General Election, businesses can consider the following strategies that will enhance their brand and position them at the forefront of their sectors.
The General Election results provide numerous PR opportunities for businesses, regardless of their sector or size over the next two weeks. Critical to their success is the need to stay relevant, be creative, and demonstrate authenticity in the content that you are putting ‘out there.’
Before we go any further, it’s perhaps worth taking a moment to clarify what we mean by ‘PR.’
There is a lot more to PR (public relations) than many people realise. It encompasses content, digital, and social media marketing as well as media relations – the process by which you pitch your story to the media to generate coverage in the form of quotes, interviews, features, and profiles of your key people.
Now, let’s get back to the opportunities that the General Election results will provide for businesses:
Respond to the election results:
Write a blog for your website that offers your organisation’s thoughts on how you see the new Government impacting your sector, the wider economy, or even your organisation’s plans. This can be shared across your social platforms and be added to your company’s next customer newsletter.
Pitch the media:
Time will be of the essence, so if you are looking to share your comments with the press you will need to pitch relevant journalists on the day of the election results itself.
National media outlets will be inundated with pitches from companies and Pr agencies offering commentaries, so unless you have a truly unique angle that could shift the focus of the discussion or add original insight then your time is probably better invested in targeting other options.
Regional and trade media outlets – newspapers, radio and TV stations, online publications – could present the best opportunities to get your views published.
You may also be interested in:
Is your PR activity focusing on the wrong media?
Smile for the camera: How video boosts leader profiles and profits
Engage with stakeholders:
Actively engage with your stakeholders such as customers, employees, and investors by sharing updates regarding the election results and how your business plans to navigate potential changes. This can be done through newsletters, social media updates, podcasts, or webinars.
Leverage experts and thought leaders:
Utilise those experts within your organisation to provide commentary and analysis on the election results. Position them as thought leaders through interviews, guest articles, or speaking engagements to showcase your business’s expertise and credibility. An idea could be to take one or two of the new policies to be rolled out by the Government and do a deep-dive into each of them.
You may find this article on thought leadership helpful:
How to become a genuine thought leader.
Align with brand values:
Tie your PR opportunities to your brand values and messaging. Highlight how your business can address the issues raised during the election and explain how it aligns with your core principles.
For example, Labour is committed to making Britain a ‘clean energy superpower’ and accelerate decarbonisation. If you have a sound ESG (environmental, social and governance) policy in place, this may be close to your organisation’s heart.
To help achieve this, Labour has set aside an investment of £7.3bn on low-carbon industries. But critics say their green pledges fall short of what is need – they are too ‘safe’. Is that your view? Does this go far enough?
Be authentic and transparent:
Be genuine in your messaging and actions. Authenticity and transparency are key to building trust with your audience. Clearly communicate your business’s values and how you plan to contribute positively in the post-election environment.
An incredibly effective way of doing this is to record a piece to camera video – it is personal, powerful, and an exceptionally engaging way to bring your content to audiences. You can read more on how to successfully do this by reading this post.
Here’s an example of how we do this for ourselves. Click image below to watch (3 mins).
If you haven’t done PR before, now is the time. Try it over the next week or two and we guarantee you will be surprised and delighted with the results.
