What trade can learn from brands: How to raise your media profile through media evaluation

Vuelio was a proud sponsor of the Trade Association Forum’s Best Practice Exchange 2024, a space for professionals across UK trade associations to share sector insights and predictions for what lies ahead.

Want to raise the profile of your organisation or association in the UK media? Check out advice shared during the Vuelio masterclass on what can be learned from big brands, including client stories to illustrate use cases adoptable for trade associations

Why learn from brands?

Sharing her expertise on how brands can amplify their message in such a saturated media landscape was Vuelio’s head of account management Katharine Feltwell, who talked tactics for cutting through the noise.

‘There are clear similarities between brands and trade associations,’ said Katharine.

‘Where the customers drive the revenue for brands, members drive the revenue for trade associations.

‘Where the brands make their money through customers purchasing their consumer products, trade associations make their money through members buying into things such as training and events.

‘Brands strive for a clear brand identity against their competitors, and trade associations strive to develop a brand identity which is industry linked.’

Key differences to consider:

‘Brands are usually the most well-off organisations. They tend to have the most financial freedom to be seen as early adopters of new tech and trends. As they are consumer facing, they generally have more competition and can have to try harder to be the loudest voice in the room to have the most commercial or b2b impact.’

The key challenges of amplifying your voice?

Katharine shared challenges frequently faced by industry clients who want to amplify their voice in the media, highlighting:

– Difficulties in ensuring messaging is both cohesive and concise
– A lack of audience consideration and understanding
– Struggles with rebuilding trust once it has been lost.

In light of these, how can trade associations facing the same issues overcome them?

Understanding your audience and where to aim your comms

Katharine shared two case studies from her experiences aiding clients in getting their messages out to the world, the first being a top 100 charity based in the UK who successfully reached its target audience with its comms.

Starting right at the ideation stage, the charity didn’t know who to contact with its story, or which publications should be in its target outlet list for coverage.

‘Ensuring a not-for-profit budget is channelled in the best direction, with the best return, is of utmost importance,’ said Katharine.

‘This charity wanted to work smarter not harder, and put its effort into reaching specific key audiences rather than just shooting wide and hoping for the best. This particular charity had five different audiences of financial donors that it wanted to reach, spanning from so-called “traditional wealth” to “concerned neighbour”.

‘We focused on something the charity already knew – its own donor personas.’

By enhancing Vuelio’s own analysis with the audience intelligence of sister company Pulsar, it was possible to understand which media and social profiles these personas would engage with – and the ‘traditional’ publications they may read – resulting in a robust list of media to target with messaging.

‘Every month, our team of analysts work together to create a report for this charity. These reports delve into what topics resonate best with each target audience. I.e. Do fundraising case studies appear more commonly in the types of publications that “concerned neighbours” read rather than “traditional wealth”? Is the “traditional wealth” demographic is mostly interested in the policy change stories?

‘If you are starting from the very beginning of your strategy and are not sure where to start – begin with something that you already know, or expertise you already have, and work backwards to your end goal.

‘As a trade association, you will have incredible amounts of industry data from your members. This is powerful information that can help shape your media activities.’

How to cut through the noise with your comms

Want to be seen as a leader in your industry sector? Learn from the story of an international bank that wanted to share its ESG credentials in the media, without incurring greenwashing accusations (a pitfall many brands have fallen foul of over the last few years).

‘What we did for this client was to provide a status quo report,’ said Katharine.

‘Our team of analysts examined a group of six international banks (themselves included) and the tactics used when talking about each element of ESG; which ones resulted in a positive and neutral result versus negative coverage, and where the reach was the highest.

‘We created an eight-page report filled with charts, graphs, and written analysis, finding that banks that relied heavily on press releases, blog content, and quotes from CEOs did not see the largest volume of high quality, high reaching positive/neutral coverage.

‘Instead, those who focused on press announcements of actionable changes made the most splash. Actions speak louder than words when it comes to creating a credible ESG profile as a bank – sweeping statements do not work.’

The client pivoted to communicating actions, and has gone on to win multiple sustainability awards.

‘Learn from other people’s mistakes and victories and craft your plan based on what has already happened in the story so far,’ said Katharine.

Key takeaways to remember when elevating your voice

– Simplicity is key when it comes to working smarter not harder
– Look around you and think about the voices that are already loud on your chosen topic – what is and isn’t working for them?
– Create your ideal audience from information you already hold, analysis of external channels, and the right support
– Once you have decided what ‘good’ looks like for you, consistent tracking of your performance against goals will ensure lasting success

‘Doing these four things will allow you to create your own bespoke playbook for managing your own reputation,’ advised Katharine.

‘This ultimately will enable you to take this strategy whatever may come your way – be it a curve ball from the Government where you have to amplify your external voice at pace, or a positive opportunity for change.’

Learn more about Vuelio’s Media Monitoring and Insights solutions, and Pulsar’s audience intelligence tools, for sharing your organisation’s story and successes.