Generating high-quality coverage for clients doesn’t just happen by chance, and the foundation of a digital PR campaign’s success lies within nailing the ideation process in the first place.
Before we dive in, it’s important to acknowledge that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ideation. Everyone is unique, and generating ideas varies from person to person. What sparks creativity for one might pose a challenge for another.
However, we believe that the key aspect of this process is allowing yourself and your team the time and space to be creative and evaluate ideas after a brainstorming session. Generating quality and creative ideas is what we PRs are good at and why clients come to us, so spending time on this stage of campaign development shouldn’t be underestimated.
Nailing the brief
Before any brainstorming session, you should provide your team with a brief so they can get an understanding of what exactly you need from them, and so they can start getting prepared. We’d encourage PRs to create briefs that inspire creativity and are more visually pleasing than overwhelmed with words and information.
Brainstorming briefs which are concise and have more visual elements will support the following:
- Clarity and focus – A visually appealing brief with clear formatting and concise content helps participants quickly grasp the main points. Visual elements, such as headers, bullet points, and images, can guide participants through the information, maintaining their focus on key details.
- Reduced cognitive load – Concise content reduces cognitive load, making it easier for participants to process information and generate creative ideas. Too much information or cluttered visuals could overwhelm brainstorm participants, hindering their ability to think creatively.
- Enhanced creativity – Visual appeal contributes to a positive and engaging environment, encouraging creativity among participants. A brainstorm brief like this can inspire creative thinking and stimulate ideas, creating a more conducive atmosphere for brainstorming.
- Improved retention – Visually pleasing elements, such as graphics or charts, can aid in information retention, ensuring that teams remember key details. A brief that is both visual and concise helps participants absorb and retain essential information more effectively.
- Ease of communication – A visually appealing brief facilitates effective communication by presenting information in a format that is easy to understand and share. Graphic elements can serve as quick references during discussions, promoting a more efficient exchange of ideas.
Picking your brainstorming team
There’s no right or wrong with this one, but we think keeping brainstorming small is ideal. We’d recommend keeping brainstorms to those who regularly work on a client account. If you think someone in the wider team has relevant experience you can draft upon, consider inviting them, too. Doing this will support:
- Active participation – In smaller groups, each participant has a greater opportunity to contribute and share their insights actively. This can lead to a more diverse range of ideas and perspectives.
- Smaller teams often experience better collaboration and communication. Participants are more likely to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and collaborating closely with one another.
- Focused discussions – Small groups enable more focused and in-depth discussions. Team members can delve into specific topics or ideas without getting sidetracked by too many voices or unrelated discussions.
- Enhanced accountability – In a brainstorming team, each participant may feel a greater sense of responsibility for contributing and ensuring the success of the brainstorm. This accountability can lead to more dedicated and invested team members.
- Easier facilitation – Facilitating a smaller group is generally more manageable. The brainstorm organiser can ensure that everyone has an opportunity to speak, ideas are captured effectively, and the session stays on track.
- Sticking to the agenda – It’s easier to stick to a predefined agenda in a smaller group. This ensures that the brainstorming session stays focused and productive, addressing the key objectives without unnecessary diversions.
However, if you’re coming up with ideas for a new client, definitely get everyone involved!
Giving yourself and your team space to be creative
When you get your hands on a brainstorm brief (preferably a week before the session), it’s important to carve out some time and room for creativity. This allows you the space to think and come up with relevant ideas (those that match the client’s industry, expertise, and audience) that are newsworthy and align with client goals. Ideation is the foundation of shaping a digital PR campaign, so nailing it on the first go is a big deal.
Coming up with ideas
Like we mentioned earlier, there’s no right way to come up with an idea, and it’s important to follow your creative instinct. Consider where you feel most creative and comfortable, and try replicating that when developing ideas. However, we recommend taking advantage of tools which can support ideation.
Effective note-taking
When noting down ideas in your brainstorming session, the temptation is to grab everything people toss your way. However, this can lead to a page full of scribbles and a bit of a head-scratcher when you revisit your notes, trying to decipher the gems among the sea of thoughts. We’d suggest creating a document that breaks down essential elements: the core idea, the research method involved, its relevance, the ideal development timeline, the target audience and media, accompanying assets, and potential challenges. Putting these details into a Google Sheet creates a clear roadmap for whoever is tasked with analysing and choosing the ideas to run with later.
Selecting the right ideas
In digital PR, creating campaigns that match the client’s industry, knowledge, and audience is important. Google considers link and content relevance when assessing a brand or website. Relevance significantly affects a site’s Google ranking, so reaching out to the appropriate publishers with fitting content is crucial. This ensures that our clients are exposed to the right audience at the right time, with the right message, increasing the likelihood of positive business outcomes.
After a brainstorming session, it’s crucial to consider some relevance-focused questions before proposing an idea to a client. If you can confidently answer a few of these questions (not necessarily all), you’re likely on the right path:
- Audience: Will the content interest my clients’ audience?
- Authority: Does my client have expertise on this topic? Who in the business could we quote or feature in an interview?
- Keywords: Does the campaign include keywords we want to rank for or enhance? Can we link to existing onsite content to provide support?
- Newsworthiness: Will content appeal to journalists at our preferred publications? Does it contribute something new to the ongoing conversation?
- Timing: Is the topic relevant in the current media landscape? Is this an appropriate time to discuss it publicly?
After confirming the relevance of a PR campaign, the next step is to assess its practical feasibility. Consider the following questions:
- Data: Is the necessary data available, or can we obtain it within our budget? How long will it take to gather, and is it financially feasible? For instance, through FOIs or surveys.
- Methodology: Can you confidently outline a methodology for using the data? After the campaign is sent to the press, you should be able to address any journalist inquiries regarding what the data indicates and how you collected it.
- Support: Does the idea depend on the client for insights, and if so, can you realistically obtain them? Do you require third-party commentary, and is this doable?
- Objective: Will the campaign align with your client’s objectives? For example, driving traffic to specific pages, generating leads, and supporting SERP rankings. Strategies and activities should demonstrate how they’ve achieved the objectives, so if the campaign doesn’t contribute to those, it might not be suitable at this time.
- Headline worthy: Can you pinpoint three publications likely to cover the story and craft a sample headline for each? If you struggle with this, the idea may not be robust enough.
One person should be responsible for campaign testing – ideally, the client account manager.
Virtual bank of ideas
Don’t limit ideation to preparing for brainstorming sessions. If you come up with any ideas while checking the news, taking a shower, or when you’re simply sat at your desk, it’s a good idea to have a document where you can jot down those ideas to save for later! We’d suggest creating a simple Word document that can be saved as a bookmark on your laptop so it’s easy to access whenever you have that lightbulb moment!
Want to know more about how we can create newsworthy digital PR campaigns for your brand? Contact us or book a no-strings-attached 30-minute introductory call with managing director Katrina Cliffe.