The 101 of public relations
How are you promoting your business or services? Are you targeting offline and online channels? What sort of messages are you sending?
Every business is different in terms of the services offered or products sold, end users, sales cycle, media targets, management structure plus all the other variables. It’s because of these differences your business should be analysed from the ground up, regularly, to determine the most suitable public relations (PR) strategies.
Let’s start with the basics on what to expect from a good PR consultant –
1. They should understand your business
If you’re going to work with an external PR consultant or you’re establishing a PR role within your company – you’ll want them to know your business, services, product, people, spokespeople, end users, your target media publications or channels and your different audiences. Like any decent service provider, your PR person needs to understand the intricacies of your operation to be able to come up with PR ideas that are authentic to your organisation and relevant to your end user or customer.
2. Ability to sniff out a good story
The saying, ‘someone’s got a nose for news’, is still as important as ever in PR. Particularly if the style of PR that works for your business draws on written content. Ex-journalists make great PR people, because they know what makes the media and their readers or viewers tick, as well as what makes a good story. Knowing what will pique your audience’s interest as well as what the negative stories or issues are for your business, ensures your approach to PR can evolve over months, years and even decades.
3. Written capabilities
Whether your approach to PR uses press releases, events, a product launch, a social media campaign, influencers or a marketing campaign – your messages need to be well crafted, interesting and compelling enough to cut through the noise!
4. Creative, cool and personal
Just because you’re a large corporate selling complex technology or an SME with a team of three … there are no boundaries on creativity. Often the best PR stunts, campaigns or events are creative, different and personal.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a business to business organisation, a fashion brand or a cafe connecting with your audience is key for positive engagement.
5. Cost efficiencies
You don’t need to spend loads of money to start promoting your business and driving positive PR. While it depends on your organisation’s requirements and who your audience is, there are many free or low-cost ways to start promoting your business. Make sure you’re leveraging every channel or angle you can for free before handing over your hard-earned cash!
If you’re keen to hear what PR approach would suit your business – call us for a chat!