To know what trends that are important in your surroundings, it is necessary to be relevant. This ranges from large global trends to more narrow, niched trends, such as trends within a certain industry, a geographic area or over a limited time-horizon (typically seasonal effects).
This is also something Harold Burson points out in his “Business of persuasion”, when he speaks of “Being in the know”.
To grab a hold of an outside world-window and latch your story on to that not only increases your possibility to reach through with publicity and space. It also increases the interest with your audience.
Use external facts and established numbers and statistics to frame your story, and to put your own facts and numbers into a context.
To analyze global trends and macro trends will serve you well when you plan your PR-strategy. The global trends of sustainability, innovation and megacities versus rural life all came into play when we planned PR-activities and messages from executives in several of the businesses I have worked for. The procedure is a bit time-consuming, but well worth the effort. I might come back to this in later posts. But of course, the stories will differ depending on if it’s a global Timber Group or a national Fintech company.
Let me give you an example:
One fall, some time around the middle of the 2010’s, the subject of industrial export had been in focus in Sweden for a while. One of the industrial branches in the company that I worked for at the time was wood for merchants and manufacturing industrial products. While this might not be the sexiest topic at all times, now was the time to get some of the great messages out there. The story we did was about the export-record this branch made that year – and we used of course both “record” and “export” in the headline. We reached some 70 publications within days of publishing. And of course, we added facts about the prominence of wood as a sustainable, responsible material for industry products.
I also have some examples connected to situations of crisis, and how to handle this with a constructive message. I’m covering crisis communication in different posts on the blog, but I will make a note here: if your organization is connected to issues where tragic and complex situations arises, you will have to handle that. It is not a mere opportunity to get the more constructive messages out there. It is a responsibility.
Don’t use a crisis to get your message out there. Don’t help in a crisis just to make a point of it. Don’t make it about yourself. If a crisis emerges, and your business has something to offer that genuinely will help – do it. Do it honestly and genuinely and for the right purpose. That will pay back.
Nicholas and Lence makes a great case related to this in the PR-handbook, when they write about the explosion in America following the killing of George Floyd, and how this and other tragic events can pose both personal and professional conundrums for communication professionals. Their advice is a short one, but constructive and ethical. With a small editing of their wording; ask yourself; “How can we be of help?”.
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