The Public Relations Blog

Work smarter, not harder, to let prospective customers know about your company

News media coverage is important for companies, especially for franchises.

Franchises rely on the local community in which they reside to see success, and positive news media coverage helps to build a franchisor’s brand and improve the specific franchisee’s reputation. News media coverage also places your business at the forefront of prospective customers’ minds. Media coverage that includes the parent franchise also helps to bring awareness to the brand for those looking for franchise opportunities, especially in local areas where your franchise doesn’t have a footprint.

If you are a franchisor or franchisee, you may now be asking yourself how you get your franchise in the news.

This is one story in our series about COVID-19. Read 8 ways your PR agency can assist you during COVID-19 for more.

The business landscape, disrupted by COVID-19, has transformed almost overnight and triggered talks of recession. As many companies look to reduce spending, keep in mind it’s been proven over time that increasing (or maintaining) your overall marketing spend during a recession can result in long-term gains. No marketing strategy would be complete without public relations, and especially during challenging times, PR must be an integral part of that plan. 

Although it may be tempting to hit pause on your PR program, now is not the time. It’s time to be even more strategic. Speed is the most important commodity in times of crisis. Don’t wait and risk missing the opportunity. 

Explore the benefits of an outside PR agency versus managing an in-house PR department

Admit it. At some point over the years, you’ve received a proposal from a public relations agency and thought, “I can hire someone in-house for that!”

And even if you didn’t think that, someone else in your organization did. I often find this to be the case among junior level staff or even senior staff who don’t have access to the full operating costs of a company. In which case, it’s important to understand the true costs of employment and the value of outsourcing.

This is one story in our series on the benefits of working from home. Read how working from home can save you money for more.

The debate over whether remote workers are more productive than their traditional office counterparts has been going on for a while. When you think of remote working, you might imagine people lounging on their couches with their laptops. However, there are plenty of studies indicating remote employees are quite productive. Here are four reasons remote employees are actually more productive than those who work in an office setting. 

While we didn't expect COVID-19, we knew we should be preparing for any emergency or disaster

Axia Public Relations was an early adopter of cloud technologies in 2004. 

In 2007, we created disaster recovery systems to give our colleagues across North America remote access to our agency servers. In 2009, we transitioned to 100% cloud, with data servers redundantly hosted at multiple geographic secure locations.

In October 2014, we encouraged our team to work from home as many as three days per week, depending on their role and location.

Thanks to the global coronavirus pandemic, many people in the world find themselves working from home for the first time. While technological advances have made remote working easier and more accessible, it still proves challenging for people accustomed to working in an office environment.

The team at Axia Public Relations has been working remotely since 2014. We’ve found that it encourages employee wellness, work-life balance, and helps retain talent.

Nationally, about 4.6% of all workers work from home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Bureau data also shows that telecommuting nationwide has grown 115%. Still, working from home isn’t for everyone. Here are some tips to help you get through the day, especially if you’re struggling with that work-from-home life.

Media coverage should matter to your mortgage company

Do you know why news coverage is such a plus for a company and why it matters?

The top two reasons we see are that positive news coverage helps you improve your company’s reputation as well as placing your mortgage company at the forefront of new customers’ minds. Some company executives may be surprised to find their customers may not know about your mortgage company until they see your company included in a news story. Then your company is on your prospective client’s radar when they need a mortgage.

Thirteen tips for being included in a news story

News media coverage is important and necessary for CPA firms because it improves your company’s overall reputation with the public. Inclusion in news stories also helps place your CPA firm at the forefront of new customers’ minds as well as solidify your company as the best choice for current customers. 

The hundred dollar question you may be asking yourself is how does a CPA firm get in the news?

Insurance companies benefit from media coverage

Why is it so great for companies like insurance firms to get media coverage?

For one, positive media coverage improves the reputation of insurance companies. Secondly, media coverage places your company at the forefront of prospective customers’ minds. More often than not, customers may not know about your insurance company until you are included in a news story and highlighted as an industry expert. When your executives are considered industry experts, your company and executives are on prospective clients’ radar when they need an insurance company.

So how exactly do insurance companies get in the news?

Search engine optimization is a great strategy to grow your online traffic, leads, and sales. When you do it right, you can earn a position at the top of Google’s search results. On the flip side, if you hire an inexperienced or unethical SEO company, you’re simply wasting your money.