In conversation with Elke De Ridder
from All Colors of Communication
“Smart.pr works for us as a system to be able to do the very best for our customers on a day-to-day basis.”
Since July 2018, Elke De Ridder has been co-owner of full-service communications agency All Colors of Communication, together with Kristof De Roeck and Laurens De Lanoeye. The three took over the agency through a management buy-out from the previous owner. Elke is PR Director and brings nearly 20 years of experience in Public Relations. Since the summer of 2019, she and her team have been working with Smart.pr.
Can you briefly tell us something about your agency?
“All Colors of Communication is an integrated b2b and b2c communication group for the technology, HR and construction sectors. From our location in the green belt of Brussels, we provide local and international companies with their 360° communication strategy. See us as bridge builders who break through the traditional communication flows (pr, marketing, branding & sales).”
Since their start 15 years ago - then still under the names Out of the Crowd and Whizpr Belgium - a lot has changed. “I still remember the time when there was literally a door between our small marketing and PR teams. Fortunately, that is a thing of the past! Today we are much more attuned to each other. And our expertise has also expanded over the years. Either by spotting opportunities from the market or by attracting new employees. Today we are a team of thirty men and women, all experts in their own field. Whether that is marketing, PR, branding, copywriting or digital. No more separate spaces. One team, one strategy, one course.”
Elke De Ridder, PR Director at All Colors of Communication
The service is very good and you always get a quick answer. That is sometimes different with other systems.
– Elke De Ridder, All Colors of Communication –
who are your customers?
"All Colors serves both B2B and B2C clients. We started in the technology sector, but we are now also prominent in the HR and construction sectors. Great clients such as Attentia, Sony, Dell Technologies, Epson, LaCie, Lenovo, Remeha, Ricoh, Salesforce, Seagate, SipWell and Somfy are part of our client base. Depending on the client's request, All Colors operates in Belgium, the Belux, Benelux or throughout EMEA."
As All Colors grew, so did the challenges
"Actually, until a few years ago, we maintained our own press database. Back then, it was still simple! We specialized in technology and knew our journalists personally. But when other sectors and areas of expertise (such as influencer marketing) came in-house, our press contacts also had to be expanded. And that became a more difficult task, until we concluded that it was no longer feasible. It would be at the expense of our personal approach, service and quality."
Looking for a press system
"Our search was driven by one important motivation: relevance! Finding the right journalist(s) for and with the right message. We know that journalists are overwhelmed with press releases. And so personal contacts and lobbying are very important to us, as are authenticity and honesty. It is not without reason that journalists can just come here for a cup of coffee.
What we were still missing was a central and up-to-date address book to see which colleague had contact with whom, when, and about what. That overview helps us enormously in building relationships. So when we heard from our Dutch colleagues that the Belgian database was ready in Smart.pr, we immediately made an appointment."
How does Smart.pr help with that?
"Before Smart.pr, we worked with another system and maintained the database manually. The press releases were sent from the CMS to the mailboxes. The disadvantage is that you don't see what happens to the messages.
A major advantage now is that you can see who opens the message, who clicks, or where you need to follow up. These insights help us to be even more relevant, but also very practical. If you have to stand in for a colleague, you can now see from one environment whether a message has already been sent and/or do the necessary follow-up."
Smart.pr gives your team one central, up-to-date address book that shows who spoke to whom, when, and about what - making it much easier to build strong relationships.
– Elke De Ridder, All Colors of Communication –
What are Smart.pr's strengths?
"Service. With Smart.pr, it is very nice that they respond quickly via the chat. The service is very good and you always get a quick answer. That is sometimes different with other systems. That is quite a change. You also notice that innovation is a high priority. For example, we wanted to be able to search for journalists by language and see publication figures. Not long after, both were possible."
How do you use Smart.pr?
"It is a tool that the PR consultants use every day. They send (press) releases every day and check daily whether they are well received. Our address book is a collection of combined expertise and knowledge – with data from our existing press lists and data from the Smart.pr database.
We also use the Journa search engine integrated in Smart.pr to check who is writing about which topic. This always yields interesting and very useful new contacts and media. Also very useful for prospecting or completely new themes."
What makes Smart.pr the right choice for All Colors of Communication?
"In addition to the focus on innovation and ease of use of the system, it is very nice that training courses and webinars are offered weekly. A new colleague who has started can easily get a global overview. We can now also evaluate and initiate actions. For us, Smart.pr works as a system to be able to do the very best for our customers on a day-to-day basis."
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