As Abode PR, the public relations agency that I founded in 2016 grows, I’ve put a great deal of thought into developing the culture and values that underpin our foundations.

B2B content marketing is the use of digital content in a variety of formats to engage, educate, inform, nurture and convert prospective business customers into qualified leads. It directly influences the sales process and increasingly is a subtle, successful way of speaking to your ideal customers in a direct yet non-salesy tone.

What is the reputation of your business? What do your customers, clients or investors really think about you in the hospitality industry? Do you work hard to create a positive reputation and how do you even know what your customers are thinking? At Abode PR we care deeply because we know from experience that a well-nurtured, highly regarded corporate reputation is not only precious but it’s what distinguishes you from your competitors and generates sales.

Every company, be it hospitality tech, property management or property tech, has a story to tell. Content marketing is the art of using content to expand your business’s audience, strengthen your brand and ultimately drive leads and sales by appealing to other companies. In short, content is everything (when done well).

Although none of us can predict the future and what that might look like, what we can be assured of is that the demand for travel will return once the global lockdown eases. It is the question of when demand will return, and perhaps more importantly at what speed, that are the unknowns.

During the current climate of uncertainty, the knee jerk reaction is to keep quiet and batten down the hatches. However, in times of crisis, the best way to maintain business relationships and to reassure your workforce is to communicate. 

In a digital age, communication is entirely possible even with social distancing and isolation in place and furthermore, social media is the only place where everyone is hanging out right now. 

Even if your company has done its homework and is well-versed in ‘what to do in a crisis’, it’s always a good idea to reassess your communications strategy. Industry challenges and threats change over time, as the market evolves and new external global factors emerge, a business needs to be prepared to face any eventuality if it is to protect its brand and its reputation.

Content should be the backbone of your inbound PR efforts. Content and PR go hand in hand and on a really simple level, the media relations side of PR can help you to get others to distribute your content. Your content is everything that you produce for consuming online. It’s the blog posts, articles, social media posts, website copy, e-books, white papers, case studies, infographics and video snippets.

An increasing number of B2B businesses and their leadership teams are seeking to establish themselves as ‘thought leaders’ or the ‘go-to’ organisations for commentary and opinion-forming within their niche of the short-term rental industry.

To be a clear specialist and leader in your company’s segment of hospitality technology, property technology or enterprise property management is often a core goal of a PR strategy.

A question we always ask potential clients at the offset of a scoping conversation is, ‘What do you need PR to achieve for your business?’ 

This question is fundamental. Answers given include, ‘Raising our profile, increasing traffic to our website, help with converting initial enquiries to customers, increasing enquiries, having an edge on our competition, building resilience in our business, attracting media attention, influencing the ‘influencers’, support for breaking into a new market and helping us to tell others what we do and how well we do it.’

Achieving media coverage is hard work. It requires patience, persistence and the ability to spot and create content and news that is interesting, relevant and worthy of being consumed and shared. 

So, when you or your company achieves that brilliant article or gets featured in a news story, make sure that your media coverage is working for you way beyond just the initial excitement and traffic spike.

Technology can give guests many elements that elevate the guest experience (think property automation, smart tech, digital guest books, anticipating guest preferences, instant communication and booking) but according to a report by the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, the top-ranked Hospitality & Leisure Management Universities in 2019, 81% of travellers mention the quality of beds…