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Businesses have a lot of expenses to maintain necessary operations and ensure that they are continuously working towards success. PR is one such expense that is indispensable for any successful organization, and it helps for those who have not evaluated their need for such services to explore the important role the best PR firms can play in their business’s key processes.

Increases Profits, Sales, and Lead Quality

A huge benefit of utilizing PR for your business is that it can be extremely effective for marketing, which can have a positive impact on profit margins, sales, and producing quality leads. When companies leverage PR, they can enhance their reputation by providing customers and prospects with options to connect with the company. This is because quality PR resonates with target customers and shows them the value of the goods or services that your company provides.

The reach that PR provides ensures that your business can help new potential customers find their way to you. Higher visibility and credibility through third-party PR through innovative methods inspires brand loyalty and positive word of mouth. When coupled with quality marketing, businesses can expand the scope of their businesses to grow their audience and money making potential.

Improves Crisis Management

Crisis management is important for any business, as a PR problem can quickly jeopardize your company’s good reputation. Great PR plans don’t just cover positive news coverage — they have watertight protections in place for when disaster strikes as well.

Issues such as defective products, lawsuits, employee-related scandals, and more can be effectively managed with PR to protect perception of your business and prevent negative word-of-mouth from circulating. Sensitive situations that can threaten your business need to be addressed quickly, efficiently, and with great care. With PR, your business can rest assured that their crisis management strategies will help them weather the storm.

Provides Credibility and Brand Awareness

best pr firms

Any business owner can speak to how crucial it is to differentiate oneself from the competition. Well implemented PR strategies can be highly efficient tools for letting customers know that your business exists. The stories that PR allows organizations and individuals to tell positively contributes to visibility and create awareness and credibility for your brand. In any industry, the success of a business can be determined by how much trust consumers have for their reputation, services, and quality.

A reason why PR effectively helps provide brand awareness and credibility is because it can build a favorable impression. We want to be able to connect with the businesses that we frequently support, and these meaningful connections play a vital role in developing large, happy client bases.

Boosts Online Presence

Businesses need a great online presence to maximize their impact, attract potential customers, and give existing customers the ability to connect with the brand. Effective PR can boost your company’s online presence through a variety of methods such as content development, website features, press releases, and more to heighten visibility. Good PR is an excellent tool to strengthen your business’s SEO and increase the number of people who can view and connect with your brand’s messaging.

In a digital landscape where most customers are using online platforms, PR can boost website traffic and build an audience through linking from high authority sites. What’s more is that the best PR firms know the best methods to optimize your online presence by identifying the best channels and key individuals to spread your company’s message while maximizing reach.

Promotes Customer Service and Community Engagement

PR is commonly leveraged to create two-way dialogue between brands and their audiences. This is excellent for helping businesses address factors such as customer feedback, challenges, realize opportunities, etc. For example, PR is often used to spread news of new brand innovations, empowering businesses to monitor feedback and make any necessary changes.

If you are interested in showing a commitment to quality customer service processes, PR can prove to your audience that you are invested in fostering and maintaining connections. Naturally, this can have a profound impact on how your business and its processes are perceived by your best customers. We want to support companies interested in serving their customers to the best of their ability.

PR Can Help Grow and Maintain Your Business

The importance of great PR for any business simply cannot be overstated. The best PR firms are aware of the many moving parts of your business and can help you take all of the steps necessary to grow and maintain your community. Don’t wait until it is too late. Evaluate your need for PR and connect with a quality PR provider to cover any of the existing gaps in your current strategy.

A successful Public Relations effort should be organized and comprehensive. When working with a PR firm in Philadelphia, it’s essential that they know the city and the people who influence it. A PR team should have a thorough method and understanding of the Philadelphia Market. You want to make sure you’re getting the best press possible to meet your goals and build exposure for your brand. Below is an outline of key tips to ensure a successful PR process.

  1. Customize Your PR Strategy

    To start with, it’s essential that your PR strategy fits your unique goals. Although a PR team will have their standard process, there is no such thing as one size fits all. They should customize the process to meet your needs. For example, if your target demographic lives in the Philly suburbs, you’ll want your PR directed at media outlets that reach this population. If your audience reads the papers but doesn’t watch TV, you don’t want to waste resources on contacting local stations. Define your audience and your marketing goals before you develop your PR materials.

  2. Create Appropriate PR Materials

    You’ll first want to gather all existing materials to understand your current assets and know where you need to go from here. Then, you want to hone your messaging in custom press materials that will include press releases, media alerts, and pitches. It goes without saying that these should be well written and professional. The PR team will send them to a curated list of media contacts in accordance with your customized PR strategy. If you’re running an integrated campaign, PR will coordinate with other services so your posts on social media, for example, match up.

  3. Build Brand Exposure with Media Placements

    In addition to customized materials, PR success also requires strategic placements. Target media outlets that relate to your company’s bottom line. The places you reach out to should be relevant to your demographic. Placement settings can be local, regional or national and via print or digital media. Opportunities range from TV stations to online blogs to magazines. Your Philadelphia PR firm should know all relevant media outlets and have relationships with influencers throughout the city’s media landscape. From PHL17 to the Philadelphia Inquirer, they’ll leverage the contacts that work for you.

  4. Leverage Key Events and Initiatives

    When seeking media placements, it’s helpful to promote something specific. Your custom press materials will relate to specific events and initiatives that are timely and relevant. The PR team will strategically leverage these to increase the chances that media outlets will be interested in covering them. Furthermore, your PR team will not only publicize events but can also provide on-site support and management to facilitate press coverage and interviews.

  5. Track Success with Media Monitoring

    Stay up to date with regular reports detailing PR placements. Know if your Philly audience takes note. Public relations firms use monitoring software that tracks publication and broadcast content to ensure that nothing is missed. Keep your placements and press clippings organized for your records. Track your progress against pre-determined goals and KPIs. Over time, look at how your PR placements correlate with other measures of success.

Achieving PR Success

In conclusion, a successful PR approach should include a customized strategy with well-defined goals, the preparation of PR materials, relevant media placements, leveraging events, and media monitoring to track your progress. PR is essential for getting the word out in the right places – The brand exposure you’ll get from an expert PR team is worth it.

Does the design of an office space impact employees’ productivity? Absolutely. According to a Scientific Journal ergonomic case study, which observes people’s efficiency in their work environments, there is a direct relationship between office design and productivity. Factors like furniture, lighting, layout and noise all contribute to a business’s level of productivity. Here at Neff Associates, a top advertising agency in Philadelphia, we know firsthand how productive an open office space can be and take pride in our collaborative Old City office.

First impressions are lasting impressions! When entering our office, Neff Associates welcomes guests with bright lighting and a friendly face at our front desk. It is essential for clients to have a warm welcome the moment they walk in.

In a creative environment, having partial walls and an open space, allows each team member to verbally contribute ideas to the communal conversation. Great ideas stem from any source regardless of someone’s department and the more input, the better.

A cohesive agency atmosphere revolves around teamwork; therefore, conference space should encourage productive discussion and collaboration. The Neff Associates’ conference room is filled with natural light from our ceiling to floor windows and artificial light from our rows of recess lighting. According to Scientific Journal, lighting, both natural and artificial, is the leading factor of work productivity. Lack of light leads to eye strain, causing employees headaches, irritability and hindering productivity.

Finally, the ideal workspace should include personal touches to inspire creativity. Around the Neff Associates office, visitors can find personality pieces from classic tin advertisements to employees’ drawings on our whiteboard walls, and maybe even a dog or two roaming around.

A fun and functional office space is the foundation for employees to reach their full potential, but this is nothing new to our award-winning team at Neff Associates. Our open office fuels productivity and is part of the reason we are the leading advertising agency in Philadelphia!

No matter your business or industry, bad reviews happen— even if they’re undeserving. While you can control comments posted on your blog and social accounts, you don’t have the ability to remove bad reviews on third-party review sites like Google+, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Angie’s List. If your business is getting nailed by negative reviews, here’s how you should react.

Respond Promptly and Politely

When someone posts a negative review about your business, more often than not they are not trying to defame your company. But rather, they are dissatisfied with their experience with your business. When you receive a poor review, don’t let it go ignored. Respond quickly; start off my apologizing and then offer a solution to make amends.

When you respond, be polite. For example, you could say: “Hello [Customer Name], We are so sorry to hear that you are dissatisfied with our service and appreciate your honest feedback. We are privately messaging you to discuss how we can make things right. As always, you may also contact our Customer Service line.”

Responding promptly shows this and other customers that you care about their experience with your business, as well as value their feedback. It can also help prevent someone from posting more negative reviews on other review sites.

Report False Reviews

A review should only be reported if it is false or harassment. If someone is posting false and spamy reviews about your business, contact the review site asking them take it down. This should not be done for all of your negative reviews, as you want your customers’ voices to be heard and their issues to be resolved. In order to report a false review, you have to claim your business listing.

For assistance with improving your business’s online reputation, contact Neff Associates, the leading public relations company in Philadelphia: 215-627-4747.

 

The world of digital marketing is constantly evolving. In order to remain relevant and competitive in their industry, marketers must stay on top of the latest marketing trends and predict what strategies will be effective and on trend in the future. With 2017 quickly approaching, we’re digging into some of the biggest digital marketing trends that will dominate campaigns in the New Year.

Live Video Streaming

In a world where people are constantly bombarded with adverts, live video streaming has its perks. Live streaming has gained popularity over the last few years, with the emergence of Snapchat, Periscope and now Facebook Live, and will really take off in the New Year. Live streaming offers audiences something that’s more personal, unique and engaging. Live content also has a sense of urgency to it. It delivers a message in real-time, and you have to view it now before the content is gone. In 2017, more marketers will see the great value in live streaming and incorporate it into their marketing campaigns.

It Gets Personal

The digital marketing realm is becoming increasingly crowded. Consumers see hundreds of adverts a day, and unless the content speaks to them on a personal level, it gets scrolled past. To make their content stand out, more marketers are opting for niche-style campaigns that allow them to target a specific demographic with a specific topic that’s relevant and meaningful to them.

Native Advertising

Native advertising is an ad that looks like editorial content but is actually paid for by an advertiser. It matches the form and function of the platform where it appears. Though native advertising is by no means new, it will become more popular and important in 2017. As consumers increasingly ignore conventional ads, native advertising is a more effective and sneakier way to grab their attention. Brands that have not utilized this method of advertising in the past will jump on board to take advantage of its natural-looking visibility.

Augmented Reality

When Pokémon Go was released over the summer, it instantly became everyone’s obsession. Though interest in the augmented reality game has died down, it shows that consumers are really into augmented reality and it can create a big impact. In its prime, Pokémon Go earned an estimated $10 million a day. We can expect to see more augmented reality experiences in 2017.

These will be the biggest digital marketing trends in 2017. For more ways to boost your online marketing success in the New Year, contact the experts at Neff Associates, an award-winning marketing company in Philadelphia: 215-987-5500.

Like other marketing elements, press releases aren’t what they used to be. Today, press releases can produce greater and more measurable results. However, despite all the value press releases can offer, a lot of small business owners are missing out on opportunities to get their releases more views and shares. To maximize the value of your next news release, consider these tips.

Optimize for targeted keywords

It’s not enough to make your press release content unique and newsworthy; you must also optimize it for search engine optimization (SEO). While embedded links in your press release are no-follow— meaning Google won’t follow the link from the press release to your website— that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t optimize the content for your targeted terms.  No-follow links are still beneficial when it comes to building your backlink profile.

You will also need to write your release in a way that makes it easy for reporters and customers to find it online. Google will catalog the searched words that are most relatable to your release, allowing your press release to come up for relevant search queries. Additionally, the hyperlinked words can increase engagement among viewers and direct them to your website. Just remember, when integrating keywords into your release, make sure they sound natural and not forced.

Write compelling headlines

With so much news released every day, it’s important to make your release stand out with an attention-grabbing headline. Your headline should evoke the reader’s curiosity and entice them to want to view your release to learn more.

Use a high-quality distribution service

You can benefit from maximizing the number of sites that publish your release. This helps boost your backlink profile, exposure, and the authority of your brand. Most distribution services automatically send your press release to a large number of sites. Choosing a high-quality distribution service helps ensure your news is being sent to high authority sites with large audiences. Also, look for a service that allows you to target specific outlets that you want your release to be sent to. Don’t forget you need a service with good reporting metrics, so you can properly measure and analyze the performance of your releases.

Time it right

Do some research to determine the best days and times to send out your news release. Sending it out at the right time will enhance its results and increase the likelihood that it’s being viewed.

Add a photo or video

Bring your content to life with multimedia. Adding a photo and/or video to your release can make your content more compelling and engaging, and increase the amount of people who view and share your content.

For more ways to get the most value from your press releases, contact Neff Associates. One of the leading branding companies in Philadelphia, Neff Associates has the skills, resources and expertise to make your press release go further.

 

It seems that time of year is upon us once again. From October to January, it feels as if we are in a never- ending rabbit hole of holidays. Costumes for Halloween. Turkeys for Thanksgiving. The list just doesn’t end.  As overwhelming as this time can be in our personal lives, the holiday season can be just as crazy for us as marketers with the launch of our holiday campaigns. If you have not done so already, start planning your main campaign now. Research shows that a majority of consumers have already started their holiday shopping by the time Halloween comes around. That means if your campaign has not already launched, get it in motion as soon as possible. If you find yourself in the precarious situation of still developing a successful holiday marketing game plan, we believe following these three tips can help prepare you and your marketing team for the upcoming holiday season.

Emotion-Driven Initiatives

The holiday season is a time for friends and families from all over to come together and express love, gratitude, and good feelings. It also creates a season of unity among complete strangers. It’s perfectly acceptable if your marketing strategy helps to strengthen those feelings. Consumers become more responsive to family driven, unifying and positive feeling ads during this time. Use the holiday season to build an emotional bond with your audience, thus strengthening the value customers equate with your brand. Coca Cola nailed the emotional aspect of the holiday season with their 1971 “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” Ad. Young people from all over the world sang in this ad, creating a message of peace, love and unity; the emotions people equate with the holiday season.

Highlight Your Assets

What is it that your business does better than others? What makes your product better than that of your competitors? Setting your product apart from the rest of your field is vital. Consumption spikes during the holiday season and customers are constantly flooded with ads and commercials asking them to utilize their purchasing power. Use your marketing campaign and materials as a means to create value in the eyes of your customers. If you know you can’t compete with pricing, emphasize your quality and services. Highlight the best parts of your company or product that would remain memorable for your intended audience so that when it comes to decision-making, your product is in the forefront of their minds.

Utilize Social Media Marketing

If you need to reach a wide audience in an instant, there is no better vehicle to accomplish that than through social media platforms. Social media has become the go-to channel for users to share, create, and engage with one another. This is particularly of interest to marketers, since hashtags are increasingly used as marketing and content tools. The key to successful social media is creating avenues that make room for conversation. In 2014 and 2015, Starbucks launched their #redcupcontest for the holiday season, highlighting their newly signature red cup. This hashtag asked for Starbucks’ customers to submit photos with their red cups and utilize the hashtag provided. With over 40,000 shares during the length of the contest, this not only created a memorable and successful campaign, but Starbucks was able to stir up organic conversation and drive user engagement. The photo submissions also generated content for future promotions. Hashtag promotions are truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Above all, be aware that all of your holiday marketing initiatives can be measured and analyzed. What worked in 2016 may not be what worked in 2015 and probably won’t be the same in 2017.