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My name is Heidi Thompson, and I am the founder of ACE Public Relations. We help companies connect with their target audiences using strategies and content that build their brands and establish industry leadership to span the course of decades. We specialize in the graphic communications industry with a focus on sustainability.

Morten B. Reitoft: Isn't Public Relations a dying species? And if not (which I take you will answer), can you in an elevator pitch serve the arguments for using a PR company like Ace?

Heidi Thompson: All major corporations have PR resources to help guide them, from everyday activities to major launches and new programs.

PR is at the core of all content produced and shared, including the messaging that a company or individual conveys. Good PR strategists help companies communicate this in email and social media campaigns on their websites, brochures, and media outlets.
So, to answer your question in one word, "no, PR is not a dying species; it's a fundamental resource for every major company in the world, large or small." The great thing about PR is that no matter how small the company, good PR can help level the playing field because small companies are more nimble and can respond quicker to market shifts.

Public Relations is a role that not everyone might understand its importance and value. I studied economics in college. My line of thinking is about logic. If I was not in Public Relations, I might not understand its function either, but a good analogy is the role of architects. If you want to build something great, like a bridge or building, you want a good architect at the helm. Likewise for corporate communications.

The role that we provide as PR strategists is to help our clients communicate their message to their target audiences in a way that will give the end-user a better understanding of our client's products and services.

How it's done
It all starts with the conversations we have with our clients — both new and current ones. The discussions are very enlightening. For example, we learn a lot about the products and offerings, the history, and why they were created. We find out why people are working for the company, the impact they're having, and the legacy they're creating. Through our conversations with our clients, their customers, resellers, and distributors, we find the nuggets of information to share their stories.

We help identify our clients' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This is called a SWOT analysis, and it's something we recommend doing yearly — in fact, the beginning of the year is most ideal because it's a fresh start; people are back from holidays, and it's time to start preparing for the new marathon; it's all about building and maintaining momentum, and keeping in touch with your target audience to grow your business and expand your customer base.

It's an exciting process with our new clients and those we've worked with for decades, which is an achievement we are very proud of. Having decades-long clients says a lot about our work, especially our work ethic. We show up, and we get things done. We love what we do, and it shows.

Identifying opportunities
We always keep our eyes open for new opportunities for our clients, and webinars have become an essential communications tool in recent years, especially for those who only have a few minutes to spare in their schedule. They became so successful for several of our clients that we helped to facilitate them regularly. When the pandemic hit, our clients were prepared — they didn't skip a beat. They had a PR program in place to ensure they were regularly communicating with their target audiences and had a means for connecting with their customers no matter where they were located.

In fact, this established program made it easy for our clients to build upon their leadership status.

See, during times of challenge, those that step up stand out. It's how leaders are established. They continue to march on — and that is exactly what our clients did. Shortly after the lockdown started, several of our clients ramped up their communications because they recognized the opportunity to engage with their customers. The outreach program provided a connection that many people sought during the lockdown, and it helped elevate our clients to a whole new level.

The results: Hard work pays off
During the pandemic, our clients helped their customers navigate the current state of emergency and prepare themselves for the coming years. The feedback was heartwarming — so many thank you's during and after every program. You could tell it was what people desperately needed at the time.

At the close of 2020, we received the most amazing feedback. After the marathon year, one of our client's distributors recorded the best sales record to date. From the webinar program alone, sales conversion rates were over 80%. This means that eight out of 10 people who attended the webinars purchased.

Pretty impressive statistics. And understandable as to why we encourage webinars for our clients.

Our agency also holds webinars to help educate our market about the ins and outs of PR. We have a standing webinar that highlights how our clients achieve the aforementioned 80% success rate. The webinars are free, and we encourage anyone interested in PR and marketing communications to check them out: ACE Public Relations | Webinars

One question
One question that hasn't been asked but seems relevant to the topic: Are press releases necessary in today's social media world?

Yes. Yes. By all means, yes! Press releases feed important news to important people— legitimately. It's the gold standard for all major companies and is a red flag if a company doesn't issue press releases regularly.

Press releases are typically used to announce new products and services; notable customer wins, staff appointments, new webinars, or corporate successes and charities supported, for example.

The press release life cycle
Active companies typically have news announcements regularly. The frequency depends on how engaged the company is. Apple, for example, will issue anywhere from 3 to 5 press releases monthly. They publish the news to their blog and pepper the content with featured articles and updates — a model we recommend for companies large and small to boost website traffic, lead generation, and of course, brand awareness. Smaller companies may only have news to issue monthly or quarterly — this is OK. One of our non-profit clients averages one press release monthly, and the media and their target audience have come to expect something new from them regularly.

There will always be something new or cool to share with an active company with its target audience.

The media pick up the content from press releases, which reaches a broad number of customers, prospects, and partners. Corporations use the content to populate their social media channels, as well as their email and print campaigns. The lifecycle of a news announcement continues with media interviews and customer stories, market trend reports, influencer feedback, and more.

The media
The public relations function helps companies tap into a valuable resource: the media. When press releases are regularly sent to targeted journalists and influencers, the exposure has many benefits. Among them are brand building, credibility, new content (using articles published), and equally important, feedback. Journalists see it all, and the feedback they provide is priceless.

Nurturing partnerships with the media can yield great results in the short and long term.

Ready for business
You would be hard-pressed to find a successful corporation, large and small, that doesn't have a person or team committed to PR communications. And more often than not, they have an agency that specializes in their line of business.

Adding the PR resource sends a message that a company means business -- and is ready for business!

The resource should pay for itself quickly, from the intangibles of customer loyalty and brand awareness to increased lead generation and sales. Depending on the size of the business, agency fees can range from $5k to $25k a month and more. Because we work with niche tech companies, our fees average between $3k and $5k a month. It's less than hiring a full-time resource, and we deliver the work of a mid-size team.

Morten B. Reitoft: What are the essential KPIs using ACE in your mind?

Heidi Thompson: Key performance indicators that our clients experience are increased activity and commitment from their customers, prospects, resellers, and the media — year after year. We see more qualified leads come in, sales teams are more engaged, customers are more open to dialog, and the sales cycle is reduced. These are just some of the results that our clients experience.

With each news announcement, with each media article, with each social media post, with each Linkedin like, brands get exposure, and this is what PR fosters.

There are also KPIs like Google stats, clicks through, and other metrics. These are shared in our client meetings. We find that the stats do not impact the communications strategy and content much. Most times, it's a matter of business logic and a little pixie dust.

Morten B. Reitoft: On your website, you write 'Celebrating over twenty years.' How has the role of communication in general changed since 1999, and are the tools you used initially still valuable and valid for ACE?

Heidi Thompson: Our approach to PR has always been about the content. Create good content to educate the community, and the community will come back for more.
Our agency has seen the evolution of trade journalism, where press releases were once a starting point for an article. Now, they are mostly copied and pasted into their publication. A company's press release archive is still referenced for in-depth pieces journalists may write.

Over the past two decades, email has reigned #1 as the mode of communications — and still does to this day. Mailchimp is a steady and reliable solution and is our go-to system for email campaigns.

A corporate website is a vital asset, but older sites make it challenging for clients to update. This is why we design our clients' websites with WIX. The system is easy to customize and update — no HTML programming required.

Social media plays an essential role in the communications mix, but it can be labor-intensive. With solid content (press releases, customer case studies, testimonials, product news, etc.), we make it much easier for our clients to build up their social media presence authentically. We provide social media support to ensure that the news feed is refreshed daily or weekly, and we encourage our clients to pepper in content and conversations as often as they can.

Other tools we use are Google Meet for group meetings with clients and partners, and Google Calendar for events, invites, and reminders. For years now, we've used Google Docs for all content. We also maintain client portals on our website with an archive of the content we've created. It's a great resource.

Last but not least, the essential and timeless tool we often use: the telephone for weekly updates.

Morten B. Reitoft: You seem interested in the printing industry - is it because you serve clients in the printing industry, or why is that?

Heidi Thompson: During college, I happened to start working part-time for a company that exported graphic arts equipment to South America. This region is a big part of my heritage. I was able to use my knowledge of Spanish, and I helped the company with marketing communications. I started migrating towards PR and saw that it was a natural fit. I started my firm in 1999 and have stayed in the industry ever since. Over time, I have come to see how important the printing industry is to communications and education — two of my life's passions.

During the pandemic, I was able to marry both interests when we started providing pro bono PR support to PGSF (Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation - See interview with Jeff White (editor)). This non-profit organization offers school scholarships and assistance to individuals interested in graphic communication careers. This year, I was appointed to the PGSF board of directors. Yay! Our team is looking forward to helping them grow the organization and reach more students.

Morten B. Reitoft: Regardless of the work you and your company do, the channels have for sure changed since 1999. Internet and Social Media have become more dominant, but the trade media has, in my mind, also undergone dramatic changes. How do you see the collaboration with media?

Heidi Thompson: One of the underestimated values of the media is the knowledge and information its members have aggregated over the decades. They know the industries they represent, inside and out, and learn new things every day. They also have the technology to help get the message out to the masses for our clients. The videos that INKISH produces, for example, are a great resource for connecting with a target audience.
Smart companies should want to tap into this. There are lots to be gained from media interviews, pitching new story ideas, and reaching a vast readership.

Morten B. Reitoft: And talking about the media - has it become easier or more difficult getting the distribution of, i.e., press releases, etc., in these channels - and how do you measure the quality of these distribution channels?

Heidi Thompson: The goal of the trade media is to connect with and educate their readers, so the more good, quality information you supply to them, the more appreciative they are to have it. They work with limited resources, so the easier you make it for them, the better the chance your news will get picked up. It also helps when they know your name and trust the information you're supplying. Trust goes a long way, and PR strategists like us make sure to deliver high-caliber content. This includes press releases, case studies, customer testimonials, industry reports, and market trends, among other elements.

How do we measure the quality of these distribution channels? We let their readers and their target audiences be the judge.

Morten B. Reitoft: You are one of the names that often pops up when I check my LinkedIn - Do you actively use PR and all the wonderful channels yourself to get new clients for ACE?

Heidi Thompson: LinkedIn is such a powerful tool! Yes, we practice what we preach, and what a great experience that is! We walk a mile in our clients' shoes every time. And we appreciate the rewards! This article, perhaps? (Thank you, Morten!)

Simply liking content on LinkedIn garners exposure. Taking it a step further, sharing and posting content is how to get your message across.

We employ the philosophy of creating social media posts organically — from content created from our PR programs and from everyday experiences. For example, in a conversation, email, or phone call, we may mention a tip to one of our clients that we then plug into a social media post. Because if it's helpful to one, it will most likely be helpful to others. We do the same for cool projects. A recent case study took us virtually over one of the largest bridges in the U.S. That became a social media post.

The same method is applied to our client's social media strategy, which is why keeping the dialog open is so important — not just with the senior team but also with the in-the-field staff. The advice they give and tips they offer one customer or prospect are likely to apply to others. So let's turn that tip or recommendation into an email campaign and social media message that will help to educate their target audience. The impact of exposure is one thing. The education, however, is far greater.

Morten B. Reitoft: I read somewhere (I think it was an article from a European PR company) that PR needs to change from Outbound- to Inbound. First of all, can you shortly explain the difference and do you agree with this?

Heidi Thompson: Communications is all about finding the best way to connect with a target audience, and strategies differ depending on who you are targeting.

Outbound strategies use the traditional method of creating and distributing content with a target audience (press releases, email campaigns, social media posts). Inbound strategies are like throwing a fishing line out to influencers, using targeted blog posts, videos, e-books, etc., that are optimized for their search terms and on the social media channels they are active.

-- Other articles in Series --
Christel Meinhardt · Patrik Knutsson · Bent Brix · Heidi Thompson · Rob Ens · Zoltan Kanovits

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