Client: Heald Ltd
Client overview:
Heald Ltd is a family business that manufactures Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) systems. They design, manufacture and install measures to protect buildings and pedestrian areas from potential vehicle attacks.
Key stats:
– 21 pieces of press coverage
– National press coverage in Yahoo! News, The Sun, This is Money and Daily Mail
– 12% increase in session duration onsite
– 15% increase in pages viewed per session
– 25% increase in referral traffic to the website
– 6% increase in organic traffic
Campaign overview/brief:
Having worked with Heald since 2015, we support their business objectives across a number of marketing activity streams from offline activity to SEO and digital-focused campaigns. The most recent element of the marketing mix we’ve begun working on for Heald is digital PR.
In order to support wider business goals and aid the online performance of the brand, we developed a unique data-led digital PR campaign aimed at highlighting the areas in the UK that issued the highest number of speeding fines in 2021.
Tactics used:
To create the campaign, we submitted Freedom of Information requests (FOI) to police constabularies in the UK asking for the total volume of speeding fines they issued in the past 12 months. We supported this with desk research into the total volume of speed cameras in each of the highlighted areas plus search volume insight into the increase in online searches for ‘speed awareness course online’.
Linking the campaign back in with Heald’s products and services, we worked with spokespeople from Heald to draft a comment discussing the impact the increase in speeding fines has on road safety in the UK and what councils can do to keep drivers and pedestrians safe.
The content created for the campaign included a national press release as well as bespoke regional edits of the content targeting the areas in the UK with the most speeding fines according to our research. We also developed a supporting keyword-led blog post to underpin ongoing SEO activity.
The results:
The campaign secured both national and regional press coverage including online coverage in Yahoo! News and The Sun. In total, 10 pieces of press coverage were achieved with two tier A (domain authority 50+) links built back to the Heald website.
Alongside the press coverage, the campaign helped support the organic performance of the Heald website with a 25% increase in referral traffic and a 6% increase in organic traffic since the launch of the campaign.
Visitors to the website also improved whilst the campaign was being outreached leading to a 12% increase in session duration onsite and a 15% increase in pages viewed per session.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY:
Leveraging relevant awareness days and months can be a powerful way to boost PR and marketing activity. Although the results gained from the original outreach were very successful, repurposing campaigns in line with topical awareness days can be an ideal way to continue reaping the benefits from a single campaign.
Through this approach, we not only elevate the awareness of a subject closely aligned with the brands’ values but also engage with a topic that’s highly discussed at the time. Road Safety Week was the perfect time to repurpose this campaign’s content.
FURTHER RESULTS:
Following the additional awareness day outreach, the campaign saw national coverage in This is Money, Daily Mail, MSN, as well as coverage in RAC and GB News live TV broadcast. In total, the campaign achieved 11 additional pieces of coverage, seven of which are tier A (domain authority 50+) publications.
To find out more about our work with Heald, view our full case study here.