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Why are you even bothering with PR?
There is no point in doing it if you don’t have a clear aim.
There is a temptation and I’ve heard people say it but PR is about sending out press releases, enough to satisfy the boss or to make yourself feel like you are doing PR if you are the boss. But that can’t be enough of a reason. If that is your goal you might as well not bother and think about product improvements instead or some advertising.
Yes you can put out good news stories but why are you doing it? What is your aim?
Public Relations is about developing a relationship with the public. But why do you want to do that?
Seriously why?
How does it benefit your organisation? How would you like it to benefit your organisation?
Before I list a few ways that it can help you, I want you to think about what you want from it.
Are you perhaps trying to change the way people view your organisation? Have you had a lot of bad press before? Alternatively, has no one heard about you and so there isn’t any relationship yet and you need to build one in order to develop some customers who market what you do for you?
Are you entering a market which is traditionally unsellable? Traditional marketing just doesn’t seem to work everyone says and you want to change that?
Exercise:
I want you to take 5 minutes and brainstorm. Take longer if you like.
I want you to write down why you want to do PR what is it you want to achieve by doing it?
Then in a moment, I’ll list some other ideas you can add, but let’s start with your ideas.
Finished?
Ok. Here are some more reasons you can add to your list if they suit you.
Public Relations can
- Turn followers into loyalists, people who don’t just watch what you are doing but want to support you as you do what you do.
- Increase sales by making people more dedicated to your product and not look at others
- Can turn your customers into your best sales team. Nothing works better than word of mouth marketing. But passive customers are less likely to share than engaged ones.
- Turn your customers into defenders. Every business these days faces the threat of rapid and viral criticism. The best defence ar your own customers
Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-and-white-dartboard-1552617/