If an Ad Airs and No One Knows You Worked on It, Does It Make A Sound?

How will people know you’re doing great work if no one is reading about you?

With new GDPR legislation coming into effect from 25th May, you can no longer rely on pre-bought industry mailing lists. So, how will you reach potential new business?

Whilst organic growth from referral and word of mouth can be invaluable, there’s only so far it can take you, no matter what size your business is. At some point, you have to seek out new business. But how do you do that in a saturated market, if clients can’t look for you in a place that you can be found?

Think of the top ten companies in advertising from agency to post production. In every one of the many places you can read about the ad industry, you can find their names somewhere.

These companies didn’t get where they are today by waiting for people to find their website on a whimsical keyword search. Yes, you can have great SEO but if you’re waiting for someone to happen to want your niche, you’re missing out on a huge portion of potential business. Sometimes people don’t know what they’re looking for and, sometimes, they might be looking for you.

It’s so important to have a voice in the industry space - particularly now. It’s a way for your company’s personality to shine and to show everyone why they should go to you over your competitor. You need to consistently be telling adworld what work you’re doing and the personality, ethos and unique model that fuels it.

More than ever you must be doing this in a place that people can find you! The industry’s best work and trends are increasingly being locked behind paywalls and most businesses can’t possibly afford to subscribe to them all. You need to be strategic. Your earned media needs to be where people can see it, not sit in an echo chamber. You need to know who to send what news to and what people can read where. You need to build a public profile with the right audience or risk creating a trophy cabinet that may as well sit locked in your nan's basement.

Phoebe Siggins specialises in B2B PR for companies in the advertising industry and is Head of PR at LBB Lab