PR Takeaways from the Better Business Summit

Yesterday, I attended the Better Business Summit, a coming together of likeminded business leaders and social entrepreneurs. We discussed how we redefine what it means to create a better world through business. With a broad range of thought-provoking discussions taking place from a wide range of businesses including Patagonia, B Lab UK and Farm Urban, I broke down the five key learnings I gleaned from an extremely informative day, and how we as a business can embed those into our own culture from a PR standpoint. Thanks to The Better Business Network for an amazing day!

The importance of finding the right language

One of the key discussions centred around finding the right language to use when conveying your message. While creating messages that are shocking or grab attention may work in some instances, it is also important to present a message that is hopeful and framed in a positive way. Rather than including terminology such as the cost-of-living crisis, we could change it to measure quality of living. By moving the focus away from judging our life from a monetary perspective, we create a benchmark from which each person has their own perspective of what a good quality of life looks like. Not only does this move away from the negative picture that is often painted in the media, but it also opens a new conversation and more proactive approach in your PR work.

Practice what you preach

Greenwashing was high on the agenda across a number of the discussions yesterday. People questioned how to differentiate between companies that adopt green initiatives for attention and businesses that sincerely want to create a better future. Green initiatives inevitably generate positive PR and are an opportunity to showcase your efforts. If there is an underlying intention to have a positive impact and that runs through everything you do as a business, that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. Buzzwords are okay, if you can back it up. After all, if it brings awareness to a new audience it can only be a good thing!

Reaching new audiences

On the topic of new audiences, a lot of conversation steered towards the idea of preaching to the converted. More specifically, how most people in attendance didn’t need encouragement to help them make sustainable choices, as they were there to discuss this. The difficulty lies in interesting people whose choices aren’t governed by ethical considerations, who need a bit more incentive. This is why it is important that you tailor your story to your particular target audience. By providing them with relatable content you are more likely to pique their interest. Give them something they can get on board with!

Giving everyone in your business a voice

From a social perspective, several speakers spoke about the importance of giving everybody in your business a platform. Gone are the days where companies follow a strict hierarchy and chain of command. Some decisions must still made by those at the top, but all levels can offer valuable insight. Each employee has their own lived experience of working and combining those different perspectives is vital in generating ideas. Opening up conversations means you are likely to discover a perspective that may have been overlooked, great for PR!

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