Volume Public Relations

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I am the CEO of a computer software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Volume Public Relations?

We collaborated with them some years ago, and we reached out to them because we needed to have a presence in the press. We had products and services, but didn’t have a products relation operation within our marketing department, so we specifically wanted to outsource the public relations aspects of marketing to a firm —which we did with Volume.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re in charge mainly of finding publications for our content in the press.

What was the team composition?

I work directly with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Volume Public Relations?

When we started collaborating with them, we were a very young company. Our marketing was very small with the time we started giving marketing a place, we realized that we needed a public relations firm to help us out and we decided to outsource these services. So I called my contacts and asked for references on public relations firms, then worked with a consultancy firm that brought us a bunch of firms.

At the end of the day, I liked the enthusiasm, passion, skills, and drive that Elizabeth (Founder & President) from Volume had, and she met what I was looking for in a collaborator — I knew she would do whatever it takes to win.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve probably invested around $1–2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve been working with them for at least 10 years and it’s an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I couldn’t give you metrics as that’s the mystery of public relations. I wish I could say that the more I spend on PR the more I sell, but it’s very hard to measure the correlation. Part of the challenge of marketing is that with these kinds of campaigns, it is nearly impossible to track. 

We do track the number of publications, and we know that we’ve grown every year even through the pandemic and the credit crisis. Therefore we know that our PR campaigns might be a part of the formula for growth, but we can’t really track it.

How did Volume Public Relations perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our day-to-day communications have been through our marketing director, and every we get a report every time we get a publication. Annually, we also have a meeting to review the year’s results, plan any new strategies, find new targets, and review how to approach new products.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Desire and willingness are features I consider key in successful people, and Volume has shown that to me. I feel confident that they will figure how to approach things and achieve positive results faster than other people.

They are great at what they do. They tackle the project with the same excitement now after more than 10 years of collaboration as they did in the first meetings — and I just love that enthusiasm and the belief that we are gonna win.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For what I need, they are perfect, so I honestly have no feedback on how they could be better for me. They’re also constantly looking at how to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It depends on what you’re looking for and what your expectations are. I would advise any person working with public relations to have realistic expectations first, and I would tell them to look at our experience. We’ve been with this firm for more than 10 years, and I guess that will carry more weight than me telling you about volume’s services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

WoodmenLife is an insurance company selling life insurance and retirement products. I am the director of marketing communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Volume Public Relations?

We were looking for ways to communicate more effectively with our current and potential customers. It can be difficult for people to understand life insurance. Also, debt and financial information are not necessarily subjects that people want to talk about. Using behavioral science is a great way to improve your ability to reach people. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We invited Elizabeth (Founder & President) to talk to our entire marketing division. She did a half-day of research and then spent a day-and-a-half presenting to our group.

She discussed different behavioral science theories, how they can be applied, and what they meant. She also reviewed our communication and advertising materials and provided feedback on those. She allowed the group to give feedback on those materials based on what they’d learned from her. After that, she provided us with some reporting that we can reference in the future. 

We are also using Volume to review and give feedback on our campaigns as we go along. When we’re doing a new campaign, we get Elizabeth’s feedback so that we can improve our language and make it more appealing and meaningful to the people we're talking to.

My company primarily communicates with people through digital advertising, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and display ads. We use Volume’s work in our digital ads, as well as what we write every day.

What is the team composition?

Elizabeth is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Volume Public Relations?

I saw Elizabeth speak at Public Relations Society of America’s international conference in October 2017, and I just loved what she was talking about. She was amazing, intelligent, and enthusiastic. She was clearly very knowledgeable on what she was talking about and I just fell in love with the whole topic. 

I proposed to the VP of my division that we hire Volume, and then we talked to Elizabeth over the phone a couple of times. I secured all of the internal approval to hire her.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired Volume in October 2018, and they did training sessions for two years in a row. We were going to do it again in 2020, but everything got shut down due to COVID-19, and our company stopped spending money on in-person events. 

We have used their services in between sessions, but we haven’t needed to recently. Obviously, we would like to continue our relationship with Volume and have training sessions again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Volume’s input has contributed to a dramatic growth of our website traffic and the quality of our leads. Using the knowledge they have shared, we have also refined our communication efforts. For instance, letters that we send to people are more understandable. Their work is woven into everything we do communication-wise, and we’ve really seen an improvement in the way we talk to customers and the responses that we get.

How did Volume Public Relations perform from a project management standpoint?

They are really organized, on top of things, and great to work with. We get in touch via email and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Volume’s work is groundbreaking. I believe that Elizabeth was one of the first people to incorporate neuroscience and behavioral science into communications. I know there are a lot of people and companies doing that nowadays, but I think it’s amazing that she started this. 

She has groundbreaking information and research, and she shares that with people and helps companies improve their communication. For example, she provides little suggestions on how to improve the way you say something, which then completely changes the way somebody interprets your message and responds.

I still listen to her talk every time I go to a conference and she’s a speaker — I always learn something new.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything, other than that they probably need to clone themselves. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do it. It's amazing how anybody in any industry can improve the way they talk to people and improve the results of their marketing and communications just by knowing some of this research and stories from Volume.