As I write this in New England, the morning air grows crisper, the children are back in school, and the leaves are starting to change colors. We can’t escape it (and apologies to any Game of Thrones fans,) but fall is coming. And while I’m always sad to see the summer go, I’m also excited to get back into a routine and ramp up my projects. The fall is often the busiest time for PR and marketing professionals. So how can you make sure your team is ready for the fall workload?
Trade Shows
Are you attending a tradeshow this fall? While hopefully you started your planning in the summer, now is the time to increase your efforts.
- Promotion: Promotion of your event begins one to two months before your event.
- Content Marketing: Use your corporate blog to talk about your presence and upcoming activities at the show. Promote any speakers you have at the event, and tease any important announcements, giveaways or booth demos.
- Social Media: Start regular posts about your presence at the event. Use the conference hashtag and share your booth number as well as any speaking slots, giveaways or special parties/events you are holding. Follow the conference on LinkedIn and Facebook and engage with organizers and attendees. While at the show, send out pictures of your booth, videos of demos or presentations or hold special contests to drive traffic to your booth
SEO
Have you reviewed your SEO recently?
- Keywords: Are your keywords still relevant? Make sure that your content marketing reflects your keywords and be sure to include long tail keywords so that chatbots can find them.
- Images: Take the time to refresh your digital images and make sure you tag them appropriately
- Social Sharing: Can users easily share your content? If not, add social icons to your website to allow for easy sharing.
Product Launch
Launching a product in Q4? A successful product launch is more than just issuing a press release and updating your website.
- Timing: Product launches are a process and usually take 90-120 days.
- Communication: Ensure you are involved with all the stakeholders in you company. Engage your partners and influencers early so they can help you amplify your launch to their networks. The more people talking about your launch, the better
- Marketing: Don’t forget any marketing efforts that will help with your launch including, email marketing, advertising, sponsored social media and more.
For more information about how to have a successful product launch download Red Javelin’s free ebook: 65 Steps to a Successful Product Launch today.
Social Media
Fall is a perfect time to review your social media channels:
- Channels: Are you on the right channel? While you may have active Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, is it time to add Facebook or Instagram or SnapChat for your business? Know where what social media channels your customers are, and make sure you’re on them too.
- Description: Is your twitter description the same 120 characters you’ve had since 2012? Make sure your descriptions are up to date with your message
- Photos: Update your Facebook and LinkedIn covers with a fresh photo
New to social media? It’s never too late to get started! Download Red Javelin’s ebook: Getting Started with Social Media.
Planning
The fall is the time to start thinking about next year’s trends and corporate initiatives.
- Thought leadership: Industry trade magazines are already working on articles that will hit in the new year and conferences are selecting speakers, start thinking about topics that executives can write about for contributed articles or talk about for sessions at conferences.
- Branding: Thinking of a rebrand in the new year? A corporate rebrand can be one of the most challenging processes that a company goes through, so the time to start planning is today!
- Budgeting: Will you need additional technology next year? Planning a website? Do you need to hire outside consultants or an agency? Now is the time to plan what’s in your budget to ensure success in 2017.
The fall is the perfect time to pay attention to your PR/marketing priorities. Feeling overwhelmed with all that you need to do before next year? Reach out to Red Javelin today, and we can help you through the busy fall season and into the new year!
