Does your organization have a PR strategy set in place? No! You better get on it. If you think you don’t need a Public Relations strategy even if you’re a one-person business or a business with a scaled staff, you most certainly need a PR strategy set in place “just in case” something shall ever happen. Public Relations is the most misunderstood component in marketing and it’s often brushed off by business owners for four reasons. The first reason is, there is no budget for PR, the second reason is lack of self-confidence, third reason, the CEO doesn’t understand Public Relations and lastly, the CEO doesn’t see the value in PR. Having a stellar PR plan will help many other aspects of your business run efficiently.
What is Public Relations?
Public Relations is exactly what it sounds like. It’s managing relationships with the public to help build trust and credibility with your audience. A Publicists role is to strategically develop engagement tactics across many platforms (newspapers, interviews, red carpets, radio, magazines + partnerships) to align a business’s objectives with the public.
“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” – PRSA
Leveraging Media Opportunities
Good things can come from an organization leveraging their media opportunities. When brands leverage media opportunities, it allows them to showcase their expertise. For example, when the CEO of an organization is included in an article from a credible source, they position themselves as an expert in their field.
70% of consumers would rather get to know a company via articles than advertisements. – Entrepreneur.com
Generate Business Leads
Repetition is everything. If an organization is always in the news for doing something good, there is a high percentage that people will pay attention to that organization. The more people pay attention to a company, more likely they will use the company’s services and refer others to that company.
Stay Relevant
Businesses are in business because of customers. How are some businesses able to stay in business 50+ years? Staying relevant is key. The worst thing any organization can do is hire a PR firm or freelance publicist once they achieved their short-term goal, which is making it into the press a few times and then letting them go. To remain relevant, an organization must always stay in front of their audience.