Forget AVEs & Be Brave: Key Takeouts From Confronting Charity PR Challenges with Stroke Association

On September the 29th Mynewsdesk alongside The Stroke Association hosted a breakfast with PR professionals in the Charity industry. One of our longtime clients, Anil Ranchod, spoke about the challenges that his team at Stroke Association face when it comes to communications as well as the impact Mynewsdesk has had on their processes. There were stories that we probably oughtn't share  (think journalist ambushes!!) but I have compiled the learnings and most important takeaways from the session below. Here goes!

1. PR for the sake of PR is not good enough

Every team member on your Press Team should know the reason they are communicating each piece of content and what they are trying to achieve. Knowing what the objectives of your organisation are may sound simple but converting that into your everyday workflow and embedding it in your team's thought process is key.

2. Forget AVEs

Advertising Value Equivalency won’t accurately measure the success of your campaign. They are often big, impressive numbers which definitely look tempting but consider this: how can you measure your AVE if you don’t know what the value an advertisement on The Guardian would be worth in donations? If you don’t regularly advertise then there is no comparison.

Another problem with AVEs is that it cannot show you the quality of who you are reaching. Your AVEs may be huge but if you are not reaching or engaging the right audiences those numbers are pretty useless.

3. Be Brave, Consistent and Creative

Pitching your story to a journalist can be tough but what's key here is relationship building - make yourself memorable! Be brave and approach them at an event, find out what they're interested in so you can strike a conversation. Above all, make your content so interesting that you stand out from the crowd!

4. Be efficient

How long does it currently take to write a press release, email it to your distribution lists, create search profiles in your media monitoring platform, update your website and social media? I take it it's a little while at least. Make the most of your creative energy, time and content by making it easy for yourself to get your content out there. Use tools and processes that make things easier and free up valuable time for you to be building relationships, engaging your audiences and thinking of your next big campaign or event.

Phew! Summing-up an hour and a half of information from someone with 20 years in the industry is definitely challenging but these are the key takeouts from the breakfast seminar - hope you found them useful & look forward to seeing you at our next event.