When is best to comment on the Budget?

Timing is everything.

It can be a knack – comedy timing, for example, is sometimes natural, sometimes rehearsed, but it’s not something everyone gets right.

Timing plays a huge part in PR. Of course, great ideas, well-written content, properly thought-out campaigns and relationships with journalists are all more important, but sometimes (whisper it) good luck and decent timing can help.

Take the Budget 2014. I’ve been working in PR for 12 years and, every year, I’ve had clients on my books who want to comment on the Chancellor’s annual shuffling of the figures. And always rightly so – these are organisations who, even at the most obvious level, have a strong vested interest in the performance of the economy.

Construction firms, financial services firms, law firms, energy firms, small businesses, large businesses… and, at the top of the list, accountancy firms who will be responsible for making it all add up when the dust settles.

It’s all expert positioning and is a critical part of any PR campaign. Allowing your clients to demonstrate that, not only do they know their subject matter, but that they have opinions worth reading.

Of course, 10 years ago, printed press still ruled the roost and there was only a finite amount of space that could be filled. Only the best and boldest opinions made the cut.

Sadly, that is not the case now as social media has handed publishing rights to everyone, and when it comes to Budget time, there’s always an almighty bunfight as people push and shove to be heard over the ‘buzz’.

I would much rather see a client – and this will always be my advice – take some time to consider what the budget actually means. Digest the detail and make an informed, considered comment in a couple of days’ time.

If a client genuinely has a strong opinion on the Budget, and a journalist is looking to run it, then great – you’ve hit the perfect blend of timing, relationships and quality content.

But if that’s not the case, why not just wait and see how it pans out? Wisdom and experience can be conveyed so much more effectively if one doesn’t have to shout.

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