Why press releases are far from outdated in today’s digital PR world In an age where social media algorithms change by the hour and content is constantly competing for attention, the humble press release might seem like a relic of the past. But don’t be fooled—when written and distributed well, a press release remains one of the most powerful tools in your PR and marketing toolkit.
At Shrewd PR, we know that a strong press release does more than simply announce news—it opens doors. Whether it’s gaining the attention of journalists, boosting your SEO, or feeding your digital channels with credible, keyword-rich content, a well-crafted press release builds authority and visibility across both traditional and online media. The Power of the 5 Ws When it comes to writing a press release, simplicity is key—and that’s where the 5 Ws come in. This classic formula ensures your content is clear, purposeful and compelling. So, before you hit “send,” make sure your press release answers these five essential questions:
Press Releases in a Digital World Press releases are no longer just for print newspapers and trade journals. Today, they play a vital role in digital marketing and media strategy. Here’s how:
Final Thoughts A press release is not just a piece of writing—it’s a strategic statement. Whether you're a start-up looking for traction or an established business with a big story to tell, don’t underestimate the value of this classic PR tool. At Shrewd PR, we specialise in writing, pitching and distributing press releases that get noticed. So if you’ve got a story to tell, let’s make sure it’s heard—loud and clear.
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Think PR is only for big brands with even bigger budgets? Think again.
Public Relations (PR) is simply about building relationships, managing reputation, and sharing your story — and you don’t need to break the bank to do it effectively. At ShrewdPR, we work with ambitious small businesses every day, and we know that great PR doesn’t have to mean glossy ad campaigns or celebrity endorsements. In fact, some of the most powerful PR is simple, smart and strategic. Here are five affordable PR ideas that small businesses in the UK can start using right away: 1. Get Your Business in the Local Press Local newspapers, radio stations and community websites are always looking for stories — and they love featuring businesses that are making a difference or doing something new.
Affordable PR win: Local press = trusted exposure, often for free. 2. Share Your Expertise Through Thought Leadership You’re the expert in your field — so position yourself as one. Offering tips, insights or commentary can get you featured in online articles, trade publications or even invited to speak at events.
Affordable PR win: Builds trust and boosts your reputation. 3. Partner with Other Local Businesses Collaboration is a powerful tool. Teaming up with another small business for an event, giveaway or campaign can double your audience and create positive PR for you both.
Affordable PR win: Amplifies your visibility and strengthens community ties. 4. Tell Your Story on Social Media Don’t underestimate the PR power of social media. People want to know the face behind the business. Share the journey, your ‘why’, behind-the-scenes moments, and customer success stories. Tip: Authenticity always wins. Use real language, real photos, and speak directly to your ideal customer. Affordable PR win: Builds emotional connection and brand loyalty. 5. Get Involved in Your Community Sponsoring a local event, supporting a charity or volunteering your time doesn’t just feel good — it gets people talking.
Affordable PR win: Generates goodwill and local recognition. ✅ When It’s Time for Extra Help…While DIY PR can go a long way, there’s real value in having a strategic plan and experienced support behind you — especially when opportunities arise or crises hit. That’s where ShrewdPR comes in. We specialise in helping small businesses across the UK raise their profile, tell their story and get noticed — without wasting time or money. 📩 Want affordable PR support tailored to your business? Contact us today — and let’s have a no-pressure chat about how we can help. When it comes to growing your business, two terms come up time and time again: PR and marketing. But ask ten business owners what the difference is and you’ll likely get ten different answers.
Many people use them interchangeably — and while they certainly overlap, they serve different purposes. Understanding how they work together is key to building a strong, visible, and trusted brand. So, let’s break it down… What is PR (Public Relations)? PR is all about reputation. It’s the strategic management of how your business is perceived by the public, the media, stakeholders and your target audience. PR focuses on:
What is Marketing? Marketing is all about promotion and sales. It’s how you communicate the value of your product or service to your customers — usually with the goal of generating leads or increasing sales. Marketing focuses on:
Why Your Business Needs Both Here’s where it gets interesting. PR and marketing work best when they work together. PR helps build trust and credibility, making your marketing efforts more effective. A glowing feature in a national newspaper? That gives your paid Facebook ad more weight. A strong reputation in your industry? That makes people more likely to open your next email campaign or book a discovery call. Meanwhile, marketing keeps your business front of mind, reinforcing your message and bringing in new leads — so the momentum created by your PR coverage doesn’t go to waste. Together, they help you:
✅ Final Thoughts If you’re a small business owner trying to do it all, it can be hard to know where PR ends and marketing begins — and how to balance both. That’s where ShrewdPR comes in. We help businesses like yours create smart, strategic communication plans that blend PR, content and marketing to help you grow your profile, reach your ideal audience, and build long-term trust. 📩 Need help with your communications strategy? Get in touch today — and let’s talk about how we can put PR and marketing to work for your business. Getting your business in front of the right people isn’t just about shouting the loudest — it’s about telling the right story, in the right way, to the right audience. That’s where PR (Public Relations) comes in.
You don’t need to be a global brand or have a massive budget to start building PR into your marketing mix. In fact, here are five simple, effective ways you can start PR’ing your business right now: 1. Share Your Story with the Press Local newspapers, trade magazines, and online media are always looking for fresh stories. Whether you’ve launched a new product, reached a business milestone, or have an inspiring backstory, it’s worth pitching your story. Tip: Think about the human angle — what makes your story interesting, different, or timely? 2. Position Yourself as an Expert You know your stuff — so let people know it! Offer quotes, opinions or short guest articles to industry publications or local business columns. This helps build credibility and shows potential clients you’re a leader in your field. Tip: Journalists often look for expert commentary on trends or news stories. Keep an eye out for relevant opportunities. 3. Get Involved in Your Community Sponsoring local events, supporting charities, or partnering with other businesses are all great ways to raise your profile and show that you care about more than just profits. It’s good PR — and good business. Tip: Share your community involvement on social media and tag relevant organisations to extend your reach. 4. Create Newsworthy Content If you have data, insights, or trends from your sector, turn them into a short report or infographic. This kind of content can grab media attention and boost your website’s visibility too. Tip: Tie your content into national awareness days or seasonal events for extra relevance. 5. Build Relationships with Journalists PR is all about relationships. Start by following relevant journalists on social media, engaging with their content, and understanding what they cover. When you do reach out, tailor your pitch to their style and audience. Tip: Keep your pitch short, sharp and relevant — journalists are busy people! ✅ Ready to Raise Your Profile?Doing your own PR is absolutely possible — but if you’d like support crafting compelling press releases, building media contacts or developing a full PR strategy, ShrewdPR is here to help. We work with ambitious small businesses across the UK to build visibility, credibility and connection through smart, strategic communications. 📩 Get in touch with us today — and let’s get your business the attention it deserves. Don’t Just Wing It — Win With a Plan
When you're juggling day-to-day business operations, marketing can sometimes feel like an afterthought. You post on social media when you remember. You run the odd advert here and there. But without a clear marketing strategy, you’re simply reacting — not building momentum. Here’s why having a marketing strategy is essential for any business that wants to grow sustainably and smartly: 1. It Gives You Direction and Focus A marketing strategy defines who your audience is, what you want to say, and where you’ll say it. Without this direction, you risk wasting time and money on marketing activity that doesn’t deliver. With a strategy, every decision is intentional — from the platforms you use to the campaigns you run. Clarity leads to consistency. And consistency builds brands. 2. It Helps You Understand Your Audience You can’t market effectively if you don’t truly understand your customers — their pain points, desires, and decision-making behaviours. A good marketing strategy digs deep into this, so you can tailor your messages in a way that resonates and builds trust. When you know your audience, they feel like you’re speaking directly to them. 3. It Keeps You One Step Ahead of Competitors Chances are, your competitors are active online — posting, emailing, networking. A strategic marketing plan helps you carve out your unique position in the market and communicate it confidently. You don’t need to shout the loudest — you just need to be the most relevant. In a crowded market, strategy is your secret weapon. 4. It Maximises Your Budget and Time Marketing can be expensive — especially if you’re trying lots of different things without clear objectives. A strategy ensures your time and money are spent where they’ll have the biggest impact, whether that’s through organic content, paid ads, PR, or partnerships. Strategy helps you do more with less — and get better results. 5. It Makes Measuring Success Easy How do you know what’s working if you don’t know what you’re aiming for? A marketing strategy sets clear goals and KPIs so you can track progress and tweak your approach. This turns marketing from a guessing game into a growth engine. What gets measured, gets managed — and improved. 🎯 Final Thoughts Marketing without a strategy is like setting off on a journey without a map. You might get somewhere, but it won’t be where you intended — and it’ll take twice as long to get there. At Shrewd PR, we help businesses like yours develop clear, actionable marketing strategies that make your brand more visible, more valuable, and more connected to your audience. 💬 Ready to stop guessing and start growing? Let’s build your marketing strategy together. How Public Relations Can Help You Stand Out and Grow
If you run a small business, you’ve probably invested time in marketing, maybe dipped a toe into social media, and possibly even spent money on advertising. But have you considered the power of PR — Public Relations? PR isn’t just for big brands with even bigger budgets. In fact, strategic PR can be one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your visibility, credibility, and customer base. Here are five compelling reasons why your business needs PR — and how it can make a real difference: 1. PR Builds Trust and Credibility Unlike advertising, PR gets you third-party endorsement — through media coverage, interviews, or expert quotes. When your business appears in a respected publication or podcast, it carries far more weight than a paid ad. That’s because people trust journalists and stories more than sales messages. People do business with those they trust — and PR helps build that trust. 2. PR Helps You Stand Out in a Crowded Market Every market is saturated. No matter what you do, there are likely dozens of others doing the same thing. PR helps you define what makes your business different — and gets that message in front of the right audience, whether it's local customers, industry peers, or potential collaborators. Effective PR highlights your uniqueness and gives people a reason to choose you. 3. PR Boosts Your Online Presence and SEO Media mentions and press coverage usually come with backlinks to your website — which are gold for SEO. Google sees these as signals of authority, helping you rank higher in search results. The more people see you online, the more likely they are to trust you and get in touch. PR helps you get found online, not just liked on social media. 4. PR Opens Doors to New Opportunities Being seen as a credible expert in your field can lead to invitations to speak at events, contribute to articles, collaborate with other businesses, or even win awards. All of this feeds back into your brand, making you more visible and valuable. PR positions you as an authority — not just a service provider. 5. PR Supports Sales Without the Hard Sell Good PR tells your story, showcases your values, and shares your successes. It’s less about pushing a product and more about connecting with your audience. The result? Warmer leads, stronger loyalty, and more people understanding why they should choose you. People don’t just buy products — they buy into stories. PR helps you tell yours. 🎯 Final Thoughts PR isn’t a luxury — it’s a smart investment in your business’s growth, reputation, and resilience. Whether you're launching something new, looking to increase awareness, or ready to take your business to the next level, now is the perfect time to PR your business. 💬 Want to know how PR can work for your business? Get in touch with Shrewd PR — and let’s put your story in the spotlight. PR has always had a hard job proving it's worth. Over the 20 years I've been working in the industry I've used everything from AVE (Advertising Equivalent), to PR value and Impressions and Reach when looking at digital content. This article in Influence Magazine looks at how Google Analytics can help, and is something I'm using for an online retail client I'm working with. If you're about to embark on a digital PR campaign it's well worth a read.
https://lnkd.in/dZRUyb8 #digitalfirst #pradvice #onlinemarketing #digitalmarketingtips  Have you ever wondered how a story about a company or brand ends up in a newspaper, on the TV or in a magazine? In most cases the starting point will have been a press or news release. This will have been written by the brand's PR team and then sent out to the media and it is the information in the release that will have caught the eye of the journalist and ultimately resulted in the story appearing in the media.
For your press release to catch the journalist's eye it needs to be news worth, topical and above all it has to meet the So What test. A good way of ensuring that your release meets these criteria is to ensure it has the 5 W's, Who, What, Why, Where and When, in the opening paragraph.
Keep it short and sweet, your release shouldn't be more than one side of A4 and always ensure it has your contact details on it, after all you need to let the journalist know how to contact you if they want to run the story. Finally make sure you have an image you can send with it, make sure it's print quality and relevant. If you have as story to tell and need help to do it then get in touch by calling us on 01234 823700 or email [email protected] Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Blogging to name but a few are all being used by brands to communicate with their customers and followers. The challenge is learning how to use these platforms to engage effectively with your audience.
If you are just starting out then it’s worth taking the time to look at your competitors and see how they are using Social Media to engage with their customers. If you are taking over as a marketing manager for a company who already has a presence on various platforms it’s important to take some time to monitor how your followers and fans are engaging with you. Once you’ve got a feel for what your followers are saying and how they’re engaging with you then you can start to post. It’s also important to look at how your followers interact with you on the different platforms that you use. If you have great product photography that can help sell your brand’s lifestyle then consider using Instagram. This platform is used by thousands of people to share photos of all sorts of things and it can be a really useful method of disseminating your brand story to a wider audience. You can use #tags to help with searching on the site, which helps to increase your reach. With Twitter, you might well find that a direct call to action works best for you. Include links to a particular landing page on your website or a product page with new arrivals on your e-commerce site. Use images and #tags as appropriate just remember that with 140 characters you don’t much space to get your message out. For Facebook it is worth taking the time to work out which posts help to create the most interaction. Do your followers like tips and advice, does a special offer generate an increase in your number of social shares, does a video on how a product is made get them talking, do they engage with you when you ask for their help with product development? Just make sure that you posts fit within your brand guidelines and also be prepared to respond to followers who contact you. Before you embark on any of this though, you need to make sure that you have a robust brand strategy in place and that everyone in your marketing team knows what it is and what their role is within it. It is also vital that you know what your aims are for using social media, do you want to drive traffic to your website, increase newsletter sign up or engage with early adopters of a new technology. The choice ultimately is yours; just make sure that all your interactions fit within your brand story. It is also really important not to spread yourself too thinly over Social Media. This is where listening really come in, if you find that your audience isn’t active on a particular platform don’t be afraid to ditch in favour of one that has lots of engagement. Similarly if your followers are active on a platform that you’re not, consider adding this to your armoury just make sure that you listen first and that you have the time and resources to be able to engage fully with your followers. When it comes to the timing of your posts, there really isn’t a definite answer. Over time you should see a pattern start to emerge of the best times of day and days of the week to schedule your posts for. It you’re active on several social media platforms it is also worth looking at using either Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to help you manage your activity.
Social Media plays an important part in most marketing and communication strategies these days. The key to using it successfully to market your business is to post regularly and to try and actively engage with your audience. The challenge for most SME’s is how you resource this important element of your business. If you are lucky enough to have a marketing department the chances are they have this side of your business under control. But what if you don’t? How can you make sure you are doing your business justice on Social Media. Industry experts say that ideally you should aim to post to your blog once a week, post to your Facebook page once a day and to Tweet up to 5 times a day. This does of course depend on who your target audience is and what you wish to achieve by using Social Media. The key to achieving this is of course to plan ahead and there are lots of online tools, many of them free that can help you schedule your online activity. If you dedicate 1-2 hours per week to this side of your business you will be amazed at what you can do. Content Calendar The first thing you will need to do is put together a content calendar as this will help you to keep track of what you’re posting where and when. Start by thinking about the key times of year for your business, and create posts about that, then look for topical or interesting articles that might be relevant to your audience, you might also like to comment on particular news issues if appropriate. Hootsuite – www.hoosuite.com Allows you to handle all your Social Media in one place, you can manage three of your profiles for free, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linked In. You can schedule posts for each account quickly and easily and monitor all other activity for your accounts here. Depending on your business needs you might find their professional version useful as it also includes various measurement tools to help you track how your posts are performing. Facebook’s scheduler tool allows you to forward plan your posts up to 5 months in advance. Your planned posts can be reviewed quickly and easily using the scheduled post tool and colleagues can also review the posts here too. Tweetdeck – www.tweetdeck.twitter.com Using Tweetdeck you can manage all your Twitter interactions. It is also possibly to manage several twitter profiles from the same Tweetdeck account. Feedly – www.feedly.com If you want to find online content then this is a great starting point. You can easily search for articles on particular subjects and keep them to use as and when you need them. Don’t forget you can also Bookmark interesting web pages and content in your web browser so that you can return to them at a later date. Canva – www.canva.com If you need to create images but don’t have access to a designer then this website is a brilliant starting point. It will also help you create images that are perfectly sized for use on Facebook and Twitter. So don’t be scared of Social Media, set aside some time each week to it and you’ll soon have a flourishing online community. If Social Media is not your thing and you’d like some help then give me a call on 01234 823700 or email [email protected] #socialmedia #contentmanagement |
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