How to create a successful manufacturing PR and comms campaign

In today’s business world where information is targeted at us from every direction, finding a way to clearly communicate your message to your target audience is challenging. But it is achievable with a well-thought out communications strategy and plan.

We have diverse experience in developing communications campaigns to build a brand for large and small manufacturing organisations, positioning them as leaders and experts in their markets.

Here, we give an insight into how we approach these kind of challenges.

Clarify what you are trying to achieve

Think about what you are trying achieve, why it is important to the business and how you are going to get there.

Consider the theme or subject of the campaign, look for the experts in your organisation who can help you and identify the unique selling point (USP) or business proposition that makes you different to other competitors.

This will help to develop the campaign objective and the purpose of the campaign internally. Once this is agreed, your communications and content strategy will start to formulate.

Identify the target audience

All forms of marketing are about building a relationship between a brand and people.

It is therefore vital early in the process to identify who you are trying to influence and win over with your campaign.

Establish who they are, their roles and what is important to them. It may well be that the target audience is a mix of a number of different roles from the board to senior management.

For example, a CEO would be more interested in the strategic implications of your campaign on the industry, whereas an engineer would want to know more about the practical details and benefits if a product or service is involved.

Create a series of short and simple messages

We would advise using no more than three big messages which tie back to the original reason and purpose of the campaign.

Try not to be too commercial in selling the benefits of the business itself and focus on the wider values of the brand or product.

For example, a message supporting a product launch should highlight the product benefits and solutions it brings to the wider industry rather than saying it is simply a new product being launched from your organisation.

Use the channels that allow you to connect to the target audience

In today’s noisy world, there are many choices of channels to communicate your campaign depending on who you are seeking to influence.

When determining your channel strategy, again, tie this back to your audience and look at the channels they use. Look at their profile, what information is important to them, how they would want the information whether in short bites, longer form, on social media or in their respected trade sector media for example.

If you are targeting a niche audience, it may be that you decide on very few channels.

The key messages should be used consistently across the channels chosen for highest impact. This reflects clarity in what you are communicating and means the target audiences are receiving the same core information no matter where they are finding their information.

Consider strategic partners

In developing your campaign theme, consider if a strategic partner may be relevant to help widen out the message and to give it added authority and credibility.

At Freshfield, we work with diverse types of industry bodies to add a further independent dimension particularly in thought leadership campaigns where the endorsement of sector organisations can add weight in how it is perceived.

It is advisable to contact a potential partner early in the planning process to enable a collaboration and to decide where they fit in, making sure they are comfortable with what is planned and what they want out of it themselves.

A strong partnership can lead to other initiatives together between both parties and is very often the start of a longer relationship which can benefit your organisation as an industry leader.

Create a timetable and plan

In designing the campaign, think how it is going to roll out. It may be that you want to time it to coincide with a new piece of legislation or when you are launching a new service or breakthrough product.

Try to scope out important milestones in the campaign such as a news announcements, thought leader articles and events which will indicate periods of high activity for planning and resourcing.

The plan is helpful to regularly revisit at update meetings and share with those involved in the campaign including any experts. A detailed timetable will also enable you to develop further strategic goals for the longer term.

Review and refresh

At the outset, be clear how you are going to measure the campaign against the objectives and ensure these are embedded in your evaluation report as important indicators of progress.

This enables a meaningful review at key stages to assess activity and outcomes and whether the campaign needs a refresh with a new direction based on good information and what you have learned to date.

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If you want to have a discreet conversation about your communications strategy, please complete our online form https://www.freshfield.com/contact/ and one of our team will be in touch.