Why Public Relations Is So Effective For UK BusinessesSo why is PR effective then? A wise man once said ‘if I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on PR’.
That man was Bill Gates, and if it is good enough for him, then it is good enough for us.
The importance of experience with PR cannot be overestimated, since knowledge is power as they say.
Public relations is all about communicating a message to the world. Indeed that is what marketing is all about, but PR is different in that it uses the media to get the message from inside to the fingertips of the customers.
Public relations can be directed to specific countries, specific industries and specific target audiences. This makes sure that journalists that are covering specific markets (engineering for example) will see your releases flagged up.
The beauty of PR is that it can be very cost effective.
A startup company that has a great new innovative product or service can go from rags to riches overnight given the right PR coverage. A press release can cost as little as £50.
If the PR company is experienced in your market, and are behind the product/service, then they can work miracles.
Public relations is not just restricted to newspapers or magazines, but is online also.
Online PR is very popular these day’s due to the growth of the internet and the reach it has in our modern society.
Depending on the product or service, online or offline PR can be used (or both) to get the necessary media coverage.
Once you’ve chosen a big-picture goal, narrow it down further. Consider which product or service in particular do you want to boost sales? For what do you want your brand to be known? Take into account how big your budget is and whether there should be a deadline. By laying a campaign roadmap, you’re giving yourself a focused metric to measure your success.
Who do you wish to target in your public relations campaign? Before you can choose how you want to deliver your PR message, you must decide who you want to receive it.
What platform or channel are you going to use? Most PR these days is online or digital
Standing out in the crowd is important, especially in bust market places such as insurance, health or marketing.
Writing an exceptional press release is important, it has to stand out and grab the eye of both your customers and other journalists.
Once you’ve figured out your newsworthy angle, distribute to media publications that are relevant to your industry. You can even send the story to local TV or radio stations.
It’s imperative you’ve done your research on media companies by visiting their website and seeing how much your industry influences the publication’s news stream.
While this is a more long-term approach, you can certainly start building relationships with journalists during your campaign. This is where a PR agency really can help as they should have established relationships with key journalists.
Instead of sending your story to a generic news desk, identify the names of key journalists who most often write about topics related to your industry. Email, call, or even try reaching out to specific key journalists via their Twitter handle with your story, so you can begin building a long-term relationship with someone who might be willing to write about your company again in the future.
The lazy route is just to use a press release service and leave it at that. A PR company should not do this, if so, fire them.
Once your story begins spreading throughout the media, it’s critical that you take advantage of the traction you’re getting for a long-term boost to your website’s domain authority.
A big part of SEO is link building linked in with submitting press releases.
The social media platforms are a great tool for spreading news. Donald Trump uses Twitter and his message goes around the world in seconds. Give it a try.
If your campaign is in the media, writing a blog post on your own website highlighting some of the content of your press release to piggyback on the success. Then posting this onto different social media platforms to top it off.
Whether you are a startup company or a multinational company, PR can be effective in generating media exposure.
Our advice is to talk to a few PR companies and get some advice and ideas. PR prices will vary from agency to agency.
There are many PR bodies that give accreditation. However accreditation does not mean they will be right for you.
We work with PR agencies in all industry sectors, thousands of them; so our goal is to help you get the best advice from local PR agencies that know your industry and market.
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