Meet R. E. Porter – the most powerful customer you keep ignoring: Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR
Greg Simpson, founder of Press for Attention PR and also the PR and Communications Ambassador for that IoD in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, introduces you to R. E. Porter.
What if I told you that there’s a secret customer that you’ve missed? A customer that might well have been sniffing around your site and your social media profiles for ages. A customer that is incredibly powerful having the ability to open the floodgates to your prospecting and marketing?
I guess you’d recycle for cash to them right now wouldn’t you? Obviously you would! The problem is this customer rarely buys from the supplier but can get thousands of others to do just that. You’d be mad to not at least think about how you can attract this customer wouldn’t you?
I am going to give this customer or this mystery ‘broker’ a name but in reality this broker isn't just one person, this broker is legion in number using the power to command the attention of the entire market.
Let’s unmask this figure that is lurking in the shadows, shall we? In fact, let’s give it a name. This customer goes by the R. E. Porter.
It is Porter who your customer listens to on the radio, on the drive into work or whilst you’re making breakfast. It's Porter who fills your TV screens all morning with information she or he chooses to let you see. It is Porter who controls so many of the messages that get to your inbox and yes, it's Porter who commands the greatest share of voice in your social media feeds.
This “Porter” is a chameleon having a very influential job. Porter is really a journalist, a blogger, a TV producer, a researcher, a features editor along with a booker of interviews on the airwaves. Porter is pulling the levers of the media machine and greasing the wheels of the competitors marketing campaigns. Why is this happening? Why is Porter only ever hearing them? Why does Porter never find out about you?
It’s time to check out your website through the eyes of the different customer. Seriously, what's happening to ensure R. E. Porter knows about you? Can Porter see your backstory? Does Porter know who your ideal customer is and who you serve best? Can Porter call at your face on your website and may Porter easily discover what it is you know about better than anybody else? Can Porter find articles in regards to you on other websites or take a look at your blog or knowledge centre to discover that yes, here is someone I'm able to trust and who has something to say to MY CUSTOMERS?
That is what Porter is seeing. Porter’s appetite for content is insatiable, it feeds Porter, it sustains the media machine but all too often, Porter has to eat at the same table every night with the same dull company and also the same boring recipes. Porter is possibly your best customer, your biggest influencer, but at this time, you’ve probably given Porter no thought at all. Now is the time to change that.
If you are looking at your website with a fresh set of eyes, let me know if you fancy a second look from someone who knows Porter perfectly.
After all, I used to go by that name too.
A former business journalist, Greg Simpson may be the author of The Small Business Help guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having setup Press For Attention PR in 2008.
He has helped FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan.
His background ensures an in-depth understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from the journalist’s, client’s and consultant’s perspective. For further information please click HERE.
