Public Relations should be part of any marketing strategy, but isn’t the same as pure marketing, which usually focuses on market share and consumer relations. is one route to developing brand awareness and guiding consumer opinion, but working with the media and creating coverage with positive press reviews.
There are two main types of PR; product and corporate. Product focussing on a product (obviously!), with corporate PR being concerned with the overall impression of a company.
With the current obsession over the perception of brand, Corporate PR is seen as increasingly important. To get the best results, both corporate and product public relations can be run in tandem with advertising and other marketing methods; this way ideas are disseminated and opportunities can be shared to enhance the impact of all three.
Efffective PR is concerned with creating credibility and raising the profile of what a business does.Although exposure is all-important increasing your market share, if you have a ‘bad rep’ you’ll never capitalise on your visibility. Without credibility, you will never win repeat sales or referrals. Advertising, although it may build awareness of your brand, does not do much for credibility. Consumers know that advertising is paid-for (and therefore untrustworthy). PR on the other hand is free, winning column inches because of its worth, and a positive editorial is far more believable than the same amount of advertising.
Few things are more influential than editorial coverage. The main benefit, is the credibility that comes from having a story covered by an industry expert. Thought-leaders, or those with big readerships can sway public opinion with what they say. Another benefit is the cost involved; advertising has to bought. The costs come in creating and distributing the press releases.
possible pitfall of editorials is that the PR company has has no influence over what’s said or what the editorial content is. No matter how cunningly put together your PR is, it can still result in negative coverage. Planning for both positive and negative outcomes is essential to a well-managed PR campaign.
Once a PR campaign has been set in motion, it’s incredibly important to maintain good relations with the press. Follow-up reports, handling enquiries and prompt responses help to create a sympathetic environment for your messages. Most PR experts, like those at this Leeds PR company, have worked on the editorial side, creating a great insight into what reporters need. Developing a rapport with editors’ needs means that they’re more likely to run stories about you in future; companies who are unresponsive can get a poor response in return.
Effective PR creates a positive impression of a product or company, building great brand awareness. PR companies have the intangible job of swaying opinion and [spin]the results can unmistakeably make or break a business|the results can be business critical|can make a massive difference to a company’s future.