Advocacy

The concept of advocacy is simple: to gain the support of others in promoting an organisation, person, product, message or brand.  Advocacy is not new - people have always sought out and listened to the advice of others - but its true power is only now being realised.  This has been made possible by the internet and worldwide web (www), which provide the fastest and most effective way of reaching the largest - and most highly targeted - number of people ever possible. 

One-to-one communication is a key requirement for successful advocacy programmes.  Portfolio has developed a new communication channel that combines traditional public relations with state-of-the-art, online delivery to create highly effective one-to-one communication.  ePR delivers high quality electronic information on a one-to-one basis and provides a highly targeted and measurable means of creating a positive environment among target audiences.  ePR offers rapid ROI, with payback that can typically be measued in months. 

Another critical requirement for achieving successful one-to-one communication is the use of high-quality content for which PR material is ideal.  This is very effective at targeting advocates at the highest levels, such as industry professionals and senior managers who are notoriously difficult to target through traditional media relations, direct marketing methods and e-marketing.  Most importantly, ePR is highly measurable, which means:

• ROI can be determined very accurately

• Results of ePR can be used to determine detailed interests of target audiences, allowing marketing campaigns to be tailored and focused for maximum results and optimum use of budgets

• Data from ePR can be fed into other sales and marketing activities, such as telemarketing and/or sales calls to maximise results

ePR Metrics

Portfolio’s ePR reports provide the following information based on every individual target:

• ePR emails sent
• ePR emails successfully delivered/received
• ePR emails ‘bounced’ (eg due to 'out of office')
• ePR emails opened
• ePR fulfilment downloads

Other Benefits of ePR

There are many other benefits of using ePR:

• Highly cost-effective
1. ePR campaigns ensure that maximum use is made of PR material
2. Information can be targeted precisely at key audiences, reducing wastage to a minimum
3. ePR removes the need for postage
4. ePR downloads are delivered electronically (typically as PDFs), thereby removing the need for expensive printing

• Accountability
1. ePR response can be measured very accurately, allowing true ROI to be determined on a continuous basis

• Strongly supports other marketing activities
1. Data from ePR can be exported and used in other marketing activities.  For instance, respondents downloading a case study on wood heating can be tracked through ePR and invited to a specific seminar on the topic, etc
2. Telemarketing calls can be prioritised according to individuals’ specific interest.  For instance, telemarketing follow-up to a market report can be targeted directly at respondents who are known to have downloaded it
3. Bespoke lists for telemarketing, seminar invitations or visits can be built using data from ePR activity based on respondents’ specific areas of interest
4. Drives traffic to the company web site

• Market intelligence
1. Metrics from ePR can be used to build market intelligence such as areas of interest, which can then be used for business planning purposes

• Testing
1. Marketing ideas can be tested and then developed and rolled-out far more quickly and cost-effectively than with traditional methods such as sales calls or direct mail (for which testing is typically cost-prohibitive)

• Speed/turn-round
1. An ePR delivery can be turned round within 24 hours, if necessary, which enables clients to respond rapidly to any spontaneous marketing opportunities that arise