November Newsletter

How We More Than Doubled Coverage,

Boosted Traffic & Exposure

for a Client Leading to Increased Sales!

Ramsay Health Care UK is a private health care company whose primary objective is to be seen as a trusted and responsible, expert-led health care company. One of the key PR objectives was to secure backlinks to lead the readers back to Ramsay’s website and boost their SEO. By working with Ramsay’s key focuses and marrying these up with awareness days and topical times of year, the team has achieved 74 pieces of coverage in target titles for Ramsay’s demographic.

Why is PR important when it comes to

your business, brand or product?

Public relations can be very powerful for a business as it places you in front of your target audience and gets your voice heard amongst the rabble of a crowded market.

The job of a PR agency involves educating the media, key journalists, influencers and potential consumers on the USPs (the unique selling points) behind your brand or product so that they will then ultimately recommend it to their readers, followers or friends and tempt your chosen demographic to use your brand, product or service.

PR is important for numerous reasons; here are just a few to consider…

Journalist

of the Month

Katie Avis-Riordan is an online features writer for countryliving.co.uk  and housebeautiful.co.uk. Katie recently came down to Bournemouth to review the beautiful Green House Hotel which you can read here. Katie took five minutes out from being wined and dined to answer the infamous Sunny Bird PR questions…

 

 

 

PR Campaigns

The Good, The Bad and The Viral

The festive season is well and truly upon us, but that doesn’t mean we’re winding down at Sunny Bird PR. As we wrap up against the incoming cold spell, we thought we’d wrap up the best and worst PR campaigns we’ve come across this month.

This month’s round up of thought-provoking campaigns include putting coats on statues, a savvy survey which reached 33 million readers, a virtual look into homelessness at Christmas and an election campaign which embarrassingly backfired.

PR Campaigns - The Good, The Bad & The Viral

The festive season is well and truly upon us, but that doesn’t mean we’re winding down at Sunny Bird PR. As we wrap up against the incoming cold spell, we thought we’d wrap up the best and worst PR campaigns we’ve come across this month.

This month’s round up of thought-provoking campaigns include putting coats on statues, a savvy survey which reached 33 million readers, a virtual look into homelessness at Christmas and an election campaign which embarrassingly backfired.

Charity Wraps Up Iconic London Statues

As #snowwatch begins to trend on Twitter and Londoners breaking out in a panic bread-buying frenzy it seems apt to highlight a campaign that pegs itself on the cold London streets.

Iconic statues in London have been covered up in red coats to encourage Londoners to donate their old coats to those in need in this year’s Wrap up London campaign. Wrap Up London is a campaign run by the registered charity Hands On London.

The charity commandeered three London statues in high traffic areas – Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street station, Amy Winehouse at Camden Market, and Kinder Transport at Liverpool Street station and dressed them in bright red coats to raise awareness for the cause.

The campaign, which is now in its seventh year, asks Londoners to send any old, unwanted or unloved coats to the charity to support vulnerable people this winter. Wrap Up London will then send the coats to charities across the capital.

Last year’s campaign saw an impressive 23,000 coats donated, but the number of people living in crisis in the city is rising, particularly those who are young and homeless, so the need is even greater.

This campaign is not only for a great cause but it’s also effective and simplistic – two key components for any successful PR campaign. The proof here is in the pudding with coverage in Metro Online, City A.M, Kensington Chelsea & Westminster Today, East London Advertiser along with a host of other London-centric titles.

Survey finds half of all professionals are bored, tired or angry

Job site CV-Library recently conducted a survey on 1,200 employees across the UK to find out if they are happy at work. The results showed that a large portion of the respondents were in fact unhappy, with boredom, fatigue and anger cited as reasons.

Furthermore, the study found that marketing, legal, hospitality, accounting and computing offered the lowest job satisfaction. CV-Library’s Managing Director commented on the results, saying “We spend too much time at work to not enjoy what we do”.

The underlying message is clear: If your job is making you miserable, you should do something about it and look for a new one. This goes hand in hand with CV-Library’s aim to get more people signing up to the site and start applying for new positions.

Not only did the feature make it to Yahoo News UK and Evening Standard Online, potentially reaching an astonishing 33 MILLION readers. Thanks to its focus on a range of popular professions, it also made it to several trade websites, including ComputerWeekly (IT), economia (Accounting), Onrec (Recruitment) and HR News (HR).

Considering the only assets required for the story were a survey and an expert comment sourced from within the company, CV-Library has shown that you don’t need to spend a bomb to see your story go far and wide!

Retailer highlights homelessness at Christmas

High street retail giant Marks and Spencer gave commuters an insight into the stark reality of Christmas for thousands of Britons, far removed from the happy smiles and mouth-watering food featured on the shop’s TV adverts.

Partnering up with the national homelessness charity Shelter, M&S hosted a virtual reality Christmas pop-up in the country’s busiest railway station- London Waterloo.

‘Diners’ entering the retailer’s pop-up were immersed in three very different Christmas Days scenarios by way of a VR experience of real people in real houses.

The first two videos commuters watched were positive, featuring cheerful families opening presents and tucking into a festive feast.

In contrast, the third showed a homeless family crammed into one room of a hostel devoid of any Christmas cheer without a tree or decoration in sight.

The campaign message is clear: all this family wants for Christmas is a home.

The busy day was documented by Shelter which shared images and videos of the pop-up on its twitter alongside emotive clips related to the campaign.

M&S also shared the day’s events on its social media channels and, in partnership with the charity, created Christmas collection which donates 5% of sales to Shelter.

The PR campaign cleverly harnessed interactive technology to show customers ‘how the other half live’ by virtually putting them in another family’s shoes.

It is a brilliant example of how a brand can raise awareness of a charity and create positive brand associations at a time of year when the general public is arguably at its most generous.

Stunt Mocking Estate Agency ‘May & Co’ Backfires

A Liberal Democrat election stunt dramatically backfired this year after it emerged the party's spoof 'May and Co’ estate agency already exists.

As part of its campaign against Conservative social care plans – dubbed as ‘dementia tax’ – the Liberal Democrats created a spoof called ‘May & Co’ estate agents.

However, the real May and Co has been operating in Chelsea since 1920 and its owner John Yianni was quick to notify the party of its mistake.

Yianni revealed that he was alerted to the firm’s fake name when he began receiving ‘off’ phone calls and the company’s Twitter started to gain more traction.

The owner said he had received an apology from the organiser of the campaign stunt and as a result, the Lib Dems renamed its fake firm to ‘Theresa May & Co’ and altered the address of the spoof website.

Despite the organiser apologising for the mistake, the Lib Dems insisted that its campaign against Tory social care plans would be continuing under the name ‘Theresa May & Co.’

News of this campaign was covered in national titles including The Telegraph, BBC News and Sky News.

Journalist of the Month

Katie Avis-Riordan is an online features writer for countryliving.co.uk  and housebeautiful.co.uk. Katie recently came down to Bournemouth to review the beautiful Green House Hotel which you can read here. Katie took five minutes out from being wined and dined to answer the infamous Sunny Bird PR questions…

1. What are the 5 words that best describe you? Love my family and friends.

2. What magazine do you love reading and why? Empire. It’s always good to keep up with what’s going on in the movie world as I’m a massive film buff.

3. What is your favourite book? For me, the most enjoyable books to read are the Harry Potter series, my favourite being Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I’ve read it about 10 times!

4. Which song makes you dance? Lots of songs make me want to dance from a whole variety of genres, but I find 80s classics are always feel-good to move to.

5. What has been your best career moment? Taking part in an adventure camping trip in Dorset, which I was writing a feature on. I got to try out lots of cool things, like paddle boarding, axe throwing, and fire starting.

6. What advice would you give your 20 year old self? Don’t stress over the small things – they always sort themselves out.

7. Where are you happiest? When I’m surrounded by family and friends, eating good food and having a laugh.

8. Who would be your number one dinner guest be and why? J. K. Rowling – I think she would be so interesting to talk to and I’d love to hear her top writing tips. And of course the main topic of conversation would be Harry Potter. 

9. If you could have any superpower, what power would it be and why? Telekinesis would be really cool, just like Eleven in Stranger Things. Also the ability to change the weather would come in very handy, especially with our British summers!

10. If you had to ask us one question what would it be? What is the best part about your job?

So many things! Fun events, getting our clients in the nationals, getting great reviews for our clients, reactive media relations, coming up with super creative ideas to get our clients featured in the media – the list goes on!

We More Than Doubled Our Yearly Coverage Results And Boosted Website Traffic And Brand Exposure!

Ramsay Health Care UK is a private health care company whose primary objective is to be seen as a trusted and responsible, expert-led health care company. PR campaigns in the world of private healthcare can be quite challenging for a number of reasons but through careful liaison with our client and the media the Sunny Bird PR team managed to achieve consistent results. One of the key PR objectives was to secure backlinks to lead the readers back to Ramsay’s website and boost their SEO. By working with Ramsay’s key focuses and marrying these up with awareness days and topical times of year, the team has achieved 74 pieces of coverage in target titles for Ramsay’s demographic.

Below are just a few of the ways in which we have created a constant drip-feed effect of positive coverage…

Back Care Awareness Week

One of Ramsay’s yearly focuses was to boost awareness of its spinal surgeries on offer. To meet this objective we created a back care feature which could be positioned during Back Care Awareness Week, and also rolled it out to health titles throughout the year. The feature included shocking statistics on how much time off work is caused by back pain, exercises to do at home to help minimise back pain accompanied by photography giving the reader step-by-step instructions for the exercises.

As back care is so relatable to readers, this campaign was featured in 23 titles including the Mail Online, Bt.com and Woman & Home with a total reach of over 3 million people.

Misdiagnosis – Why Private Health Care Might Be The Answer

When faced with no ‘new news’ or procedures to take to the press, we decided to create a campaign that highlights one of the key benefits of private health care – access to specialists for specific problems. To do this, we created a PR campaign that highlighted the eight most commonly misdiagnosed illnesses and had the information turned into an educational infographic. We then sourced an emotive female case study and consultant advice on ‘what to do if you feel you’ve been misdiagnosed?’.

We secured a national exclusive on the Mail Online and a further four pieces of national coverage, reaching over 5 million people.

New Year, New You

Weight loss surgery is one of Ramsay Health Care UK’s key focuses so we decided to create a human interest piece on the emotional effects of weight gain and commissioned a survey that highlighted the ways in which weight gain can affect your life, your career and your relationships. Female case studies, whose stories backed up the survey findings were sourced and expert tips were sourced from a Ramsay Health Care UK nutritionist. This feature was covered four times in January by the Mail Online, Express.co.uk, Netdoctor and BT.com with a total reach of over 6 million people.

Age Guide to Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery is very often in the press for the wrong reasons but as another of Ramsay’s key focuses our challenge was to achieve positive coverage. Referring to Ramsay’s key messaging we focussed on the responsible and educational angle with this campaign and produced an informative age guide to cosmetic surgery.

We worked with Ramsay’s cosmetic surgeons to compile a list of the most common procedures along with a guide to the procedure including what exactly was involved, the recovery time and what age the surgeon recommended having the procedure.

We researched angles and pegs for the feature and found a celebrity hook; Kylie Jenner admitted that she’d had lip fillers too young. The Telegraph then featured our age guide along with our Ramsay consultant quotes. The article presented Ramsay exactly as we had intended as the provider of responsible and reputable cosmetic surgery. The feature was also covered on the Mail Online and the NZ Online resulting in an incredible reach of 18.5 million people.

Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

We started with the headline we wanted to see in the newspaper itself and then built a strong bank of assets to support it. Knowing that the Mail Online is quite a visual platform, we created an exclusive infographic that detailed the signs of bowel cancer that are often overlooked. This asset was educational, yet enabled us to provide a direct link back to the company website with a picture credit.

This, combined with an expert comment and gripping survey statistics, resulted in the Mail Online running the piece in advance of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Once this was secured we then rolled it out to further online titles, which resulted in 13 pieces of national coverage. Not only did this boost the awareness of Ramsay Health Care UK within the national newspapers, but it boosted the website traffic by 208% resulting in over 447 million people being exposed to Ramsay Health Care UK and meeting the client’s objective of boosting their SEO and gaining coverage in their target title.

Comment & Quote Opportunities

Ramsay Health Care UK has a number of amazing consultants and specialists. In the last two years we have been able to put them forward for key comment opportunities in titles such as; The Guardian and The Telegraph, as well as women’s monthly magazines such as Yours and men’s fitness titles. Every time a quote has been secured it boosts Ramsay’s reputation of being an expert within the private health care sector.

Want to find out more? Drop us a line on 01202 293095 or email hello@sunnybirdpr.com to find out how creative PR campaigns could work for you too.

Why is PR important when it comes to your business, brand or product?

Public relations can be very powerful for a business as it places you in front of your target audience and gets your voice heard amongst the rabble of a crowded market.

The job of a PR agency involves educating the media, key journalists, influencers and potential consumers on the USPs (the unique selling points) behind your brand or product so that they will then ultimately recommend it to their readers, followers or friends and tempt your chosen demographic to use your brand, product or service.

PR is important for numerous reasons; here are just a few to consider…

Tailor your brand message.

Consumers love brands that have a compelling or relatable story and your brand message is the reason that people will remember you, like you, and then choose you over the competition. Every good brand needs to harness a message that is retold at every opportunity. From press releases to media meetings – your PR team will ensure that your brand message is always present.

How we did it…
The market was incredibly saturated when we launched Conker Spirit’s Dorset Dry Gin to national press and we needed it to stand out amongst the competition. This was achieved through a consistent brand message that highlighted the brand’s Dorset heritage and hand-foraged botanicals. This gave it a stand-out point of difference and enabled us to secure key coverage within the Telegraph Food & Drink section, heralding Conker Spirit as ‘Dorset’s first ever gin distillery’.

Raise awareness.

People trust established brands and one way to make your brand or business known is to send out your message via a trusted third party such as a popular magazine, a high-traffic website or on the blog of a respected blogger or influencer to ensure that your brand comes into contact with your chosen demographic in a positive way.

How we did it…
Bliss is a woman’s only sanctuary in Bali and our aim was to encourage UK consumers to choose Bliss when it came to booking their next holiday. To ensure that Bliss came into contact with the correct demographic, we invited journalists from key titles to come to Bliss first-hand and review the sanctuary. This activity resulted in 12 reviews that were read by the target demographic and built awareness for a company that was relatively unknown in the UK.
 

Build credibility.

Unlike advertising, a magazine mention of your product or a product review is not a direct sell so it works as a recommendation from a person that could be an authority in your chosen industry. Many consumers ‘see through’ advertising and it’s important to be seen in a more authentic way to build credibility and consumer trust.

How we did it…
Consumer trust can often be a purchasing hurdle for a new unknown brand. Natural hair regrowth product Regrowz needed to build consumer trust in advance of their UK launch so we sourced appropriate bloggers and got them to trial the product and then leave authentic Trustpilot reviews on the website. We were then able to collate the feedback and use the bloggers as successful case studies to secure additional PR coverage. This activity created over 60 case studies who successfully trialled the product as well as 48 Trustpilot reviews on the Regrowz website.

Support your online presence.

Chances are the last time you made a purchase you used a search engine to do some online research.  Public relations can help you capitalise on this process. An article within an online news outlet, a broadcast clip posted online, or a news release distributed to web outlets – all of these provide valuable inbound links to your website that increase your Google ranking. A press release can also be further optimized for search engine visibility by utilizing keywords.

How we did it…
Ramsay Health Care wants to increase its website traffic and ranking. In each PR campaign we always ensure that there is a reason for the journalist to include a backlink to their website so that Ramsay Health Care can capitalise on the website’s traffic. A great example of this is the project we ran for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month where the secured backlinks increased their website traffic by 208%.

Boost your visibility in the media.

Appearing in an advert once or your product appearing in a sponsored social media post often isn’t enough to entice someone to purchase or invest in your services. ‘Early adopters’ and impulse buyers exist but with information at people’s fingertips potential customers will often visit multiple websites, read reviews and price check options before purchasing. It can often take people a minimum of three times to see a brand before they lower their defences and consider taking your brand message on board. It may take a positive review on a blog, a great google review on your website and a recommendation in their favourite magazine before they succumb to your brand message.

How we did it…
Card company thortful needed to stand out amongst the other online card retailers. We achieved this by securing coverage in multiple print and online publications (supplements, national newspapers and glossy magazines) and by securing online blogger reviews that were read and trusted by their target demographic. This then ran alongside their social media campaign and TV advertisement, boosting the chances of their target consumer coming into contact with the brand multiple times and increasing the chances of them using thortful.
 

Managing your reputation.
Your brand may encounter some difficulty at some point during your business journey that may affect the reputation of the company. Great PR relationships are key when it comes to minimising the damage to a company’s reputation and your PR team will be experienced in addressing difficult issues – whether that may be an advertising campaign gone wrong or angry customers on social media. A poor response or no response whatsoever is not an option and can ruin any brand trust that has been built up.

How we did it…
One of the projects that we worked on for thortful tackled the difficult and sensitive subject of Breast Cancer. To counteract any negativity, we ensured that all key speakers were fully prepped and media trained before conducting any radio or TV interviews and made sure all quotes used within the media were from an ex-cancer sufferer who had first-hand experience of the condition. This ensured that the topic was handled sensitively.

PR is time intensive and takes a lot of leg work, but once relationships have been built it does get easier as your brand recognition grows. PR truly is an essential way to get your brand message to the correct audience. For further information or an informal chat, give us a call on 01202 293095 or drop us an email at hello@sunnybirdpr.com to see how PR can benefit your company.

PR Campaigns - The Good, The Bad & The Viral

Another month has flown by in the Sunny Bird PR office. As we dust off our winter scarves and enjoy mugs of hot chocolate by the gallon, we take a look back at some of our favourite campaigns that we came across last month. From a travelling tote bag, to utilising a famous celebrity face, here are our campaign choices, so grab a cuppa and settle in…

Totes Go Travelling

Estate Agents have been battling their fat pinstripe, wide boy, wheeler dealer stereotype since the eighties. Reading some positive press on West Hampstead’s Paramount agency in The Guardian this month made for a refreshing change.

The agency hired a new and dynamic marketing manager, Carla Bradman, who saw the benefit in communicating with the community through social media. Bradman, knowing the local residents well, tapped into their love of West Hampstead, travelling and sharing these loves via social media.

The agency teamed up with a local artist, Rachel Day, who designed an illustrated map of West Hampstead which was printed onto canvas tote bags. The bags were given away from the agency offices as well as from local bookshops encouraging them to be taken on travels and pictured around the world with the hashtag #WhampPlanet. Photos posted with the hashtag were automatically entered into a monthly competition which was judged by a local blogger, Jonathan Turton, and each month a winner was awarded vouchers for local shops.

These unique and funky totes were pictured in all four corners of the globe ranging from the Gobi desert in Mongolia, the Super Bowl final, the Galápagos Islands and the Glowworm Caves in New Zealand. The totes also made an appearance at three of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Great Wall of China, the Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico and Machu Picchu.

Tapping into local trends and community spirit are all good PR, says Mark Greig, founder and CEO: “We wanted to separate ourselves from the other 10 agents on the high street.” As a result of the competition, the business has become part of an engaged online community, its Twitter following has reached 5,228. “Social media goes hand-in-hand with the customer”, says Greig. He explained that, as with the travel industry, review sites influence estate agents’ reputation making them vital for business.

We admire the simplicity of this PR social media campaign and how at all stages, it links back to the community. After all, who else is going to be buying, selling, and renting property other than the locals? The bag was designed by a local artist, the illustration was of the local neighbourhood, the photos were judged by a local blogger and it really worked. Paramount undoubtedly stands out now amongst its competitors as a company that cares about and invests in the local community.

Gold PR Heated Up CoolSculpting’s Campaign

Non-surgical, fat-reduction treatment CoolSculpting, has received consistent consumer news coverage since its initial launch in 2010 through product announcements. With competitive brands launching and expanding, the brand was seeking a way to support its current market, lift its brand profile and gain more media interest.

It’s PR company Gold PR, recommended a celebrity partnership. With the importance of marketing products and keeping relevant to the target audience and budget, Molly Sims was identified as an ideal CoolSculpting brand ambassador. Molly Sims is a 43 year old actress, model, author and mother of three who experienced amazing results using CoolSculpting after giving birth.

Gold PR and CoolSculpting announced the partnership to press. This included lining up a national TV exclusive with an evening entertainment show, a Satellite Media Tour and staging media tours in New York City. She shared honest dialogue and tips that helped her get back to her old self in her own way, which happened to include CoolSculpting. Her style was relatable and inspired so many women.

Following the media tour, Gold PR also arranged on-going top-tier print, online and radio interviews to tell Sims’ story. “Many of the beauty reporters and influencers we were targeting during this campaign were familiar with CoolSculpting, and/or had covered the treatment previously. With the Molly Sims campaign, we were able to present these outlets with new and different angles for covering the CoolSculpting story via Molly’s personal experience,” Gold PR explains.

Gold PR helped CoolSculpting create assets to help tell the story of the campaign. These included press releases announcing the campaign, Molly Sims’ biography as well as photos and videos. With these assets, Gold PR secured an exclusive interview with “E! News” prior to first media day.

This particular campaign achieved 22 TV and radio segments, 70 articles in magazines and newspapers (including Elle, AOL, Yahoo Beauty, InStyle.com and Vanity Fair) and the company saw a 40 per cent increase in new users on social media, compared to the previous month.

Rockstar Riders

Food delivery company Deliveroo offered rock fans the chance to snack like their favourite stars. The campaign was timed around Glastonbury and they used key headliners as a way to grab column inches. Deliveroo compiled an official list of the food items requested by certain stars. These food requests are often referred to as ‘riders’.

Deliveroo then gave the general public the opportunity to order their favourite rockstar ‘rider’ during the week of Glastonbury. This simple, yet effective PR campaign enabled the food delivery company to jump on the back of the media train that follows this major festival each year.

The most popular rockstar riders were said to be Ed Sheeran’s and Katy Perry’s. Ed’s favourite item of Robinson’s squash went down well with fans, as did Katy’s bottle of pinot grigio and dried fruit selection. Deliveroo managed to capitalise on the public interest that goes along with these celebrities. It was an interesting angle that inquisitive people enjoyed reading.

By hosting the celeb riders online they created the perfect call-to-action for the reader and the Deliveroo homepage link was included in the majority of coverage.

The story enjoyed blanket coverage and was covered by Sky News, Metro, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, OK Magazine and the Express.

Ikea Created The Ultimate House Party

Earlier this month, IKEA opened the doors to an ambitious, week-long exhibition in a central London townhouse to celebrate 30 years of trading in the UK. Spanning over four floors, the public was invited to view a quintessential British living room that took inspiration from the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties as well as a top-floor installation showing the living room of the future.

In the evenings, the exhibition was transformed into the “ultimate house party”, where partygoers could step back in time and enjoy DJ sets, drinks and canapés from each era. While the daytime activities were free for all, the evening antics were reserved for ticket holders. Anyone could buy a ticket, but they sold out quickly due to high demand.

This campaign goes hand in hand with Ikea’s tagline of celebrating “The wonderful everyday”, offering both a nostalgic insight to life through the ages and cementing Ikea as an integral part of British life. It did a brilliant job in showcasing Ikea’s ethos as well as its furniture, while creating a fun and exciting event that went much further than just “look at our amazing products”.

The fact that the campaign encompassed both interior design and an event meant it was covered not only in national press such as The Daily Mail, Evening Standard Homes & Property, and House Beautiful, but also in local London events titles including Secret London, London on the Inside and Time Out.

Journalist of the Month

Emma Joseph is a Features Writer at the newly revamped Dorset Living (previously Dorset Society) as well as the Daily Echo. She has taken some time away from writing fabulous lifestyle features to answer our famous ten questions!

1. What are the 5 words that best describe you? Organised; thoughtful; caring; calm (and a little) OCD!

2. What magazine do you love reading and why? It’s terrible, but I am a sucker for a bit of celebrity gossip, so it would have to be something like Closer, or OK! (My guilty pleasure!)

3. What is your favourite book? I’ll read anything really, but I particularly love Martina Cole. Her books are often quite uncomfortable reading, given the subject matter is usually prostitutes, drug addicts, domestic violence, murderers etc, but I always get completely sucked into them. I also like a good thriller - Tess Gerritsen is another favourite author.

4. Which song makes you dance? I LOVE a good boogie – anything cheesy or disco-y!

5. What has been your best career moment? When I was the Health Reporter at the Southern Daily Echo in Southampton I did a story about an anonymous donor who paid for a profoundly deaf two-year-old to have a cochlear implant fitted. Her family invited me along when they turned the device on and she heard her mum tell her she loved her for the first time. It was so emotional, and such an incredible honour to be included in such a special moment.

6. What advice would you give your 20 year old self? I was still studying journalism at Bournemouth Uni when I was 20, and set on becoming a TV presenter, so I guess I would tell myself not to worry if things don’t turn out exactly as planned, and not to stress about the small stuff (something I’m still trying to do now!).

7. Where are you happiest? Anywhere when I’m with my family – whether that’s at home, snuggled up on the sofa with a movie; chilling on Southbourne beach or on a family holiday.

8. Who would be your number one dinner guest be and why? I think it would have to be my husband’s dad, who passed away before my husband and I met. I’ve heard so many stories about him, it would be lovely to be able to meet him.

9. If you could have any superpower, what power would it be and why? Definitely teleportation! How amazing would it be to get to Hawaii instantaneously?!

10. If you had to ask us one question, what would it be? Where did the name Sunny Bird come from?

"It's the name of our MD!"

Organic reach on social media is going down, but can you beat the algorithms?

A few years back, those of us promoting via social media would have measured success by the amount of likes and followers generated. This was true across the board from Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

However as the social network giants changed their algorithms to prioritise the most relevant content for its users, a lot of likes are no longer a guarantee for reaching your fans. Now, your posts will only reach a small percentage of your followers through what we call “organic reach” (the amount of people who see a post without you paying for it). It’s the social networks’ way of encouraging businesses to pay for promotions, ensuring the ‘social’ aspect doesn’t drown in a sea of brand promotions.

These changes have made it increasingly difficult for businesses to reach their consumers without breaking the bank on sponsored posts, no matter how amazing the product is. To help you along, we have compiled some tips on how to maximise your social media strategy:

Twitter’s organic reach is 3.61%, meaning if you have 500 followers, your posts will reach 18. You can improve these numbers by commenting on current news and trending hashtags. If you post about today’s big news from the perspective of your business, you become visible to the thousands of Twitter users following current events. You can also collaborate with people and organisations around you, when you tag them in your posts and vice versa, you will reach new followers - a win-win situation!

Facebook has the lowest reach, with an average 2.6% of users reached per post. To get your posts into more newsfeeds, you should feature more video content as they are favoured by Facebook’s algorithm. Make your content shareable; whether it’s by including cute cats, cool facts or amazing achievements, you want people to share your post with their friends and family.

Last week saw the rollout of the “Explore Feed”, this new feature can be found in the menu with your groups, pages and events - look out for a tiny spaceship in a red circle! This new feed is designed to show you posts that Facebook thinks you will find interesting from pages you may not be following yet.

In a few countries (not the UK), an alternative version of this feed is being trialled where the original news feed is reserved for posts from friends, family and advertisers and the pages you follow are pushed into the Explore feed. Countries in the trial are reporting a loss of around 60% in both organic reach and number of interactions (likes, comments and shares). Facebook says there are currently no plans on taking this feature globally, but with it already being tested in six countries, we will be keeping an eye out for it as a UK rollout could mean big changes for us and our clients.

Instagram used to be the king of organic reach at around 20% thanks to its chronological news feed, but since introducing a new algorithm to show users the posts they would “care about the most”, this number has gone down.

Instagram does still favour more recent posts however, so it’s important to know when your followers are online and post at those times. Another way of increasing your Instagram presence is by using hashtags, but make sure they are specific and relevant to reach the people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say (stay clear of #LikeForLike and #FollowForFollow!). A good idea is to look at which hashtags are frequently used by your friends and competitors and use these. A word of caution though; if you use the same hashtags too often this can lead to what is known as a “shadowban”, where Instagram flags your posts as spam and blocks you from showing up in some searches without informing you. Hence it’s always best to keep your content varied and original.

If you have done all of the above and still wish to take your social media presence that little bit further, paying for sponsored posts doesn’t have to cost a fortune if you know who you want to target. If you’re not sure how, we’re here to help. Call us on 01202 293095 to find out more!