Benham Publishing Businesss Magazines December 2013 | Page 44

BusinessServices

KISS PR’s tips for
raising your profile
The average person receives 63,000 words of new
information every day; we are inundated with information.

To stand out in this overcrowded landscape,
businesses need to interest, excite and provide
audiences with knowledge, help or advice.
KISS PR has worked with many business-tobusiness clients keen to elevate their standing
amongst a specific audience by becoming
thought-leaders. Here, Justine Smith, Managing
Director, offers her tips for achieving thoughtleadership status.

What is a thought-leader?
A thought-leader is a recognised expert in a
specific field. Thought-leadership PR is personal
and focuses on either an individual or a group
of company spokespeople. It is a good way of
differentiating your company from others in your
sector by building a network of credible experts
and positioning them with the Press as
informative, innovative and insightful sources
that the media can call to comment on current
industry issues and challenges.
Justine said: “Responding to topical issues that
happen in your industry needs a fast response
and must offer a strong opinion, a warning or
an alternative view.
“Alternatively, developing a series of ideas for
thought-leadership and pitching those to an
editor can be very fruitful. In time, you can earn

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respect from journalists and build trust and
credibility for your organisation.”
KISS PR’s top ten tips for building a thoughtleadership profile:
1. Find your thought-leader. Identify a person in
your organisation that the industry will want to
hear from.
2. Cut through the published clutter and identify
areas that have not been discussed and
provide an interesting, thought-provoking or
controversial view.
3. Don’t expect instant results. Thoughtleaderships can take time to establish
credibility and trust from journalists.
4. Keep up to date with issues affecting your
industry. However, don’t confuse trend
analysis or market statistics with thoughtleadership; they are fundamentally different
things. Spokespeople must have an
interesting opinion, an alternative viewpoint or
a fresh insight into a particular topic.
5. Remember that editors are bombarded daily
with press releases and ideas for articles so
ensure when you pitch ideas to