A free PR and marketing conference for small businesses and charities has been hailed as a success, with individuals from organisations across North Wales and the North West of England attending to help boost their skills.
The online event, hosted by Flintshire-based Outwrite PR over two half-days, covered topics including planning and strategy, social media, search engine optimisation and photography to help boost growth and make best use of resources.
Speakers included representatives from Wynne Construction, Xplore! Science Discovery Centre, itas, and Lyons Holiday Parks, as well as freelance photographer Keith Freeburn and Outwrite’s own team.
Other talks included maximising the results of collaborations, online reputation management and asking for reviews, as well as applying for awards, podcasting, media relations, and measuring and evaluating your PR and marketing activity.
There were also health and wellbeing sessions from Mold-based Pilates instructor Lucy Palmer.
Anthony Bullick, managing director at Outwrite, said: “While everyone appreciates the benefits that good PR and marketing work can bring, it’s not always easy to access reliable information on best practice or get the opportunity to quiz experienced practitioners on how to apply it to your own situation.
“As such, being able to share knowledge and expertise to support charities and small businesses was a real privilege.
“There are so many organisations in the region doing vital and innovative work; we hope with the right pointers they’ll be able to build relationships and trust with a much wider audience in the coming months.”
This year’s event followed on from the award-winning agency’s successful 2019 charity conference, after plans for 2020 were postponed due to the pandemic.
Not content to rest on their laurels, the firm has already begun preparations to see delegates in person in 2022.
One attendee, Pam Drew of Waxing Works, said: “There were so many fantastic snippets on updating your web presence for better SEO, or using Facebook, Twitter and other platforms, and so many reminders of the different ways to produce content that contributes towards your goals.
“Offering wellbeing sessions during the breaks was also lovely touch. I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Calhan Behrendt, senior account executive at Outwrite said: “It can be easy to waste time on social media, or on press activity, and for organisations with limited resources it can feel like it simply isn’t an option
“Being able to show what good quality marketing and PR looks like we believe will make a real difference.”
Outwrite’s clients include one of the UK’s largest rural broadband specialists Voneus, Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK, Warrington-based Watsons Solicitors and dementia specialist care home group Meddyg Care.
The agency specialises in integrated PR and communications, crisis PR, online reputation management and social media training.