What these 4 PR case studies can teach you as a small business

4 brands, 4 PR success case studies, and 4 ways you can learn from them to innovate the PR strategies for your small business...

1. What caused Joe Wickes, founder and owner of The Body Coach, to be catapulted to success overnight? Alongside his obvious passion for fitness and healthy eating, his Instagram account became popular due to its brief, yet concise content. In seconds of video, Joe shows his viewers how to prepare a quick and healthy breakfast. Joe is able to catch the attention of the viewer and get his point across at the same time, and this is a valuable skill. Once someone has stumbled across your webpage, making sure your content is brief and succinct assures that you catch the attention of the viewer. So get rid of any unnecessary clutter on your site!

Call-to-action: Be short and concise. Catch the attention of the viewer while making your point.

2. Once your content is concise it is of up most importance to effectively engage with your audience. Food website, Healthy Choice, has recently done this by implementing a progressive couponing system on their Facebook page. As the page increased in popularity, people received price reductions and ‘get one free’ deals. Although free sampling is the oldest strategy in the book, Healthy Choice put a new twist on it. In order to get better deals and more price reductions, people were encouraged to share and promote the page themselves. The customer ‘word of mouth’ initiative successfully increased the popularity of the page and also the business. Engage with your satisfied customers or viewers by rewarding their involvement and encourage them to spread the word about your business themselves.

Call-to-action: Engage with your audience by rewarding their involvement and let them spread the word!

3. A very powerful PR campaign was that of Novartis, the global healthcare company. Through partnering up with photographer Anne Geddes, the project ‘Protecting Our Tomorrow’ was born; a gallery of portraits of meningococcal disease. In order to raise awareness, the campaign captured hauntingly beautiful images of individuals who suffered from the illness. Its success is apparent when looking at the 12,000 downloads of the free e-book from iTunes and the resulting discussion between survivors and others who have been affected by the disease in some way. Whether in order to raise awareness or for another purpose, visual images are powerful. Do not be afraid to be creative and use emotive images.

Call-to-action: Be creative and emotive in your image choices.

4. On the topic of images, as well as being emotive, they can often be informative. An infographic that effectively displayed this was produced by peer reviewed journal The BMJ and Makovsky Health, a healthcare communication and PR resource. With its use of the popular figure James Bond, the infographic illustrates the dangers of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Using headlines such as “The Man with the Golden Liver” it explains that Bond should be dead by the age of 56. By creating a story around the iconic James Bond, people immediately pay attention as his character is familiar and loved. However, the infographic is most effective through its negative and humorous portrayal of a ‘good’ person. In order to create relatable yet unique content, try to engage with and even question popular culture.

Call-to-action: Employ cultural references and do not be afraid to call them into question.

If you have no idea where to start with PR, why don't you have a look at our blog about why PR should be part of your Marketing strategy. You could find some good reasons to start it there.

Written By: Yasmin Hoover, Media Relations Intern

Yasmin contributes to the runnings of JournoLink in many ways; from blogging and events, to press release distribution and networking. A new and important part of the team, she continues to help us connect businesses with the media.