Hannah O’Donnell, founder and Managing Director of health, wellbeing and lifestyle agency, Straight Up PR, shares her key insights for nailing PR:
PR is essential for all brands and businesses, but how do you know if you’re doing it right? The PR
industry is always evolving, from traditional Media such as print magazines and TV, to Podcasts and the implementation of social media strategies due to the growth of Influencers.
Knowing what to do is tricky, and might be overwhelming for some. It’s important to always bring your PR
approach and strategy back to basics and think strongly about what’s important to your business and consolidate what your ‘why’ is.
1. Build your offline community: Get away from your phone and build your tribe in person – 2019 is all about creating genuine connections and not just ‘liking’ or ‘following’ someone on social media. What you learn from other people is invaluable, so it’s important to get out from behind your emails and meet in real life. You never know what opportunities could come from it. Make it your goal for 2019 to organise a catch up with someone different once a month, and let the opportunities and ideas flow
2. Your greatest growth will come from your greatest fear: Embrace networking, speaking and profile opportunities – they don’t say business is all about the hustle for no reason. Putting yourself out there will open you up for many new prospects, and you’ll build your confidence simultaneously
3. Engage with micro influencers: engaging with micro Influencers in 2019 can help you build your brand and business. These generally range from 2-20k followers and are really key due to their tight, yet engaged audience. Establish great partnerships with those who are Influencers in the industry you’re in, and build a mutually beneficial relationship
4. Get amongst your industry: keep up to date with your industry and get involved – whether that be through online communities like ZOII for the health and wellness industry OR Social Diary for brands and the PR and media industries, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse with all the industry news.
5. Know your WHY: once you’re clear on what your product, service, brand, or campaign is here to do and how you want to communicate it, then get on board with a PR agency who can help you to generate awareness in a positive way through Media, Influencers and Brand Collaborations (to name only a few key PR tactics). When picking an agency, ensure that they’re fully on board with your brand and vision. Do lots of research, don’t be afraid to ask around for testimonials and organise phone or face to face catch ups. It’s key to work with an agency who lives and breathes the industry you’re in and is the right fit for your business
More About Hannah O’Donnell...
Passionate about the growing power of the PR and media industry, Hannah O’Donnell founded
Straight Up PR in 2013. After working with so many health and wellbeing influencers through the
teams PR campaigns, in 2015 Hannah realised a need for people management and Straight Up
People was born. Straight Up PR is proud to work with much-loved brands and people of influence
in the health, wellbeing and lifestyle industries.
Hannah and her team boast over 15 plus years experience and have delivered a number of successful and integrated PR, Social Media and Influencer campaigns from strategy to implementation.
Hannah was awarded B&T’s 30 Under 30 Award and continues to inspire people with her powerful leadership skills and positive attitude to work and life.
Connect with Hannah via Instagram @hannah_o_donnell OR @straightup_pr OR www.StraightUpPR.com.au
