A guide to spotting newsworthy content in your business
The key to successful PR and communications is creating and sharing engaging content that catches people’s attention – and that means good storytelling.
But one of the questions I’m regularly asked by business owners is, ‘What makes a good story?’ In my experience, a compelling story will cover most, if not all, of these elements:
Something new or unique
Are you launching a new product, service, survey or report? Has funding been secured for expansion, relocation or job creation? Do you want to announce the appointment or retirement of a key staff member? Is your organisation involved in a high-profile sparkling occasion, like a festival or sporting event? Have you reached a milestone, such as 25 years in business, or has an individual member of staff achieved something special?
The wow factor
Remember, every organisation and individual will have ‘wow’ moments that you can use to promote your business
Interesting characters
People are more interesting than businesses. Promoting the ideas, opinions and achievements of your staff is a great way to raise your profile, gain respect and enhance your reputation.
Your own journey as a business owner, customer success stories, and your team's community involvement all contribute to building a compelling narrative. Even small milestones, like staff qualifications or volunteer and charity work, can demonstrate your business’s values and impact.
Timely and topical
Ideally, what you’ve got to say is relevant, right now. That means connecting your expertise to current trends and industry developments, or tying in with events and key dates in the calendar.
This could be anything from participating in local festivals to sharing insights during awareness days like Mental Health Week, or creating seasonal content that resonates with your clients or customers. The key is finding authentic ways to join or create conversations that matter to the people you want to reach.
Egg-citing stuff!
It’s a great idea to tie your business activity to key dates in the calendar like Easter, Halloween or national awareness days
Impactful
This is the ‘so what’ bit where you demonstrate why people should care and take notice. You do this not by telling them whatever it is, but by showing how it makes a difference to people’s lives. Ideally, you’ll empathise with a challenge and offer a solution.
For example, let’s say you have developed a way to recycle ceramics into cool, new kitchen products. This is great because these items are usually difficult to break down and recycle, but it’s not the best part of the story. What matters more is the positive impact this new product has on reducing the tonnage going to landfill and the amount of money that saves the taxpayer. Win, win.
Images
Think how boring it would be scrolling through social media without pictures and videos. Every story needs one or other, or both a picture and a video. The quality of cameras on today’s smartphones means these don’t have to cost a fortune and there are simple editing tools out there to help capture the perfect image.
Think smart(phone)
Creating great pictures or video is easy and can really bring your story to life
Not sure if you have a story?
Every organisation and business has stories worth telling - sometimes you just need help finding them. Contact me for a free 30-minute consultation to uncover the stories that could help your business stand out.