Rose Media Group’s Founder and Managing Director Aneela Rose was recently invited onto the Made to Grow podcast. She joined host Rich Dale to tackle key issues around encouraging more SME manufacturers to unlock the benefits of effective PR.
Aneela has been working with large and small manufacturing and engineering clients for over two decades. In that time, she has built up a huge amount of knowledge and specific expertise on the challenges SME manufacturers face in communicating effectively.
In the episode ‘PR for Manufacturers – Telling your Story’, which aired on 13 September, Aneela was asked to share her personal insights into the current business landscape and the many challenges small and medium-sized companies face. She explained why so many businesses confuse PR with marketing and often fail to unlock the full benefits available while others go from strength to strength.
“PR is misunderstood” she said, “but a lot of it is simply about generating trust…It’s absolutely crucial that businesses invest in their PR and marketing activities, increasing brand reach to new customers.”
Bringing it all together
She discussed in depth the evolving nature of PR in SME manufacturing and explained Rose Media Group’s particular approach to both staying ahead of the curve and exceeding client expectations. She said that Manufacturing PR is just one facet of the marketing mixture, sitting alongside events, social media, sales and lead generation but it often gets overlooked. “The good agencies out there recognise the differences between all of those activities but also work with the client to bring all of that together effectively,” she said. “The best agencies involve team members with experience in each of these areas, working to provide a cohesive service offering that gets results.
“If you don’t understand what PR actually means, then you’re not going to fully understand and appreciate the benefits and how it can work for you. PR isn’t just about generating sales, although ultimately that’s what we want – it’s what businesses need – and it’s often what new clients say: ‘we need more business’ but no one knows who we are!”
Building trust in the digital age
Aneela said that although so much of PR is digital today, with a greater focus on social media and Search Engine Optimisation. There is still a huge amount of value in more traditional and humanising approaches. While you can’t rely on just word of mouth, she said, customer feedback gained through case studies and personal testimonials remain key content tools that help build up a company’s story and trust. “PR is not just about celebrities and influencers and some companies think that is what PR is. They think PR is much more for consumers than it is for B2B and that’s just not the case.”
She went on to say that manufacturers that have invested in their digital resources and embraced modern PR methods see almost instant results. Their brand sees increased exposure, content is amplified and core messaging is shared more effectively to wider and new audiences. Current customers feel more engaged. New customers are attracted to the brand sphere.
The proof of Manufacturing PR activities
Rose Media has been working with some of its engineering and manufacturing clients for more than a decade. Aneela spoke about the evidence of success being in those lasting relationships. “PR can fully support manufacturing businesses in meeting their objectives, to increase their turnover and support cashflow,” she added. Measuring return on investment is of course critical to a successful strategy. Aneela discussed the key importance of measuring the numerous data points of PR to generate a clear picture of success. These included press coverage, unique site visitor growth, click-through rate, social media mentions, quality engagement, and of course those all-important new sales leads.
Every fortnight, the Made to Grow podcast, sponsored by Flowlens MRP Software, tackles issues around the growth of UK manufacturing. It talks with experienced SME manufacturers, industry thought leaders, digital transformation experts and mindset gurus to bring a range of different perspectives on growing small manufacturing companies.
The podcast episode with Rich Dale of Flowlens Manufacturing CRM & MRP Software is now live and ready for you to listen to! Follow this link to listen and read all about the episode:
