Public Relations (PR) is a busy and fast-paced industry that has to be ‘always on’. PR teams can feel stretched, especially in-house teams that have limited external support.
According to Muck Rack, a software company serving the Public Relations industry, across sectors, roles and geographies, many PR teams are spending over 2 hours a week on manual data entry. While these admin-intensive tasks can’t always be avoided, there are online tools that can help teams use their time more efficiently.
By adopting the right tools, PR teams can focus time on resources that really matter. We’ve put together 3 online tools that can help PR teams.
Are you sure your content is being found and read?
Research by the Nielsen Norman Group into how people read websites, found that only 16% of their test users read pages word-by-word as opposed to skimming the content. This means that headlines need to work even harder to encourage viewers to read on. It should include terms that your potential readers are actively searching for to facilitate search.
Coschedule’s headline analyser gives your headline a score out of 100 using an algorithm based on factors such as word balance, headline type, sentiment, word count, character count and skim ability. Creating a great headline captures the essence of what you’ve written, entices the reader to read on, and encourages them to share it with others. For example, the headline of this blog ‘3 Online Tools to Help B2B PR Teams’ gained a score of 72 out of 100, ranking it high according to Coschedule’s score system.
The quality of your headline also has an impact on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), or its likelihood of being found online. Coschedule’s headline analyser includes a full evaluation of your headline’s searchability when ranking it out of 100.
Using an online tool to check the efficiency of your headline before publishing your content will increase the chances of your content being found, read and shared online.
Are you confident that your press lists are up to date?
Creating a press list and ensuring it is kept up-to-date can be a cumbersome task that requires frequent reviewing and refreshing to ensure that you are targeting the right media outlets who would be happy to receive your content.
Anewstip is a keyword search engine that helps businesses find journalists and media outlets that have recently discussed or mentioned a specific topic on Twitter. For example, you could search ‘cyber security’ and journalists discussing this topic on Twitter would be displayed. It allows you to filter by profiles, topic, and language, whilst enabling the list to be sorted by top influencer, number of tweets and how many times they have mentioned the keyword you have searched. You can also keep up with emerging trends and stay in contact with relevant journalists for opportunities.
Spending ages trying to monitor coverage?
When working on a PR strategy for your B2B company, keeping track of where your press releases are being distributed and what coverage is being generated is vital. These tasks can be labour intensive if done manually.
Meltwater is a media monitoring solution. The online annual subscription service offers PR professionals the ability to create contact lists, easily distribute press releases, track the open rate of emails and search for coverage.
Another useful tool that Meltwater provides is the option to create alerts. You can be notified when a high-reaching editorial source or Twitter influencer mentions keywords that you have selected, such as your company name. This tool eliminates the possibility that quality coverage accidently goes unnoticed and allows you the option to start tracking coverage straight away.
Need some help?
Ilex Content Strategies’ borderless approach to PR provides full public relations support to in-house teams in the B2B tech and telecoms sector regardless of geographies. We have helped clients secure coverage in geographies as diverse as Brazil, to Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. We provide consultancy on content creation, communications, sales, and marketing. To find out how we can help you achieve a borderless approach to PR, book a no obligation meeting with us today.
