If you have a start-up or any running business, it’s important to have a perfect PR plan in place to increase visibility among your target audience and create a positive reputation that ultimately leads to increased engagement and sales. Quoting a famous saying – “Business only has two functions: innovation and marketing.”
When we talk about any business, either you are creating an outstanding product or service, or you are telling people about it. But is it easy to craft a compelling communication strategy and convey it wide and clear to your intended audience? How does one increase brand awareness, without extravagant budgets? Here we have jotted 5 important PR Tips for you.
1. Get the difference clear regarding Advertising and PR
Advertisements are the way a company pays huge for an ad space and represents itself on that media space. A PR campaign, on the other hand, creates unpaid, organic contact between a business and its audience to build brand awareness.
For example, you have a jewellery brand in capital city of India. A sponsored post on Instagram and a news-paper full page coverage is what we call as advertising. But when that jewellery brand sends a fashion influencer any jewellery to use, and the influencer genuinely likes it and posts about it on various social media platforms, that is PR. Being quoted as a reliable source in a newspaper, featured in a particular magazine or appearing on a talk show are other common forms of PR. Sending press releases regarding company announcements counts.
2. Establish the Reach of your Story
First, identify the scope in which your story is to be told: local, state, national or global. This determines the type of media you will research, contact and pitch. You can determine your reach by where your product is used. In some cases, you may need to reach both local and national or local and global.
For example, if your small business has impacted your local community in any way or wins a big industry award, your community or industry-specific news outlets may want to celebrate it. In addition, if you are a sports celebrity, for instance, and need a message for your national as well as international fans, large scale announcement that impacts an entire industry, the media may be interested too to cover your stories!
3. Do your research
While crafting a compelling pitch, it is important to keep your pitch as short and sweet as possible. You will need a brief introduction and then get right to the point. To simplify, Answer the 5 W’s and 1H (This refers to the six questions that a reporter should answer in the lead paragraph of a news story: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How) in less than two paragraphs.
4. Craft a Compelling Story
The surest way to get a reporter/blogger/editor write about you and your brand is to get their attention and make strong relationships with them. Talk, discuss, meet and network with them and tell them what on what is unique about the business, whether that’s the product or service you offer, the culture you’ve built, the problem you solve, the way you hire, how you give back. Does your small business do something unique that can be tied to a holiday or event?
For example, what if your company takes serious steps to minimize your Carbon footprint? That’s something to pitch before Earth Day. Right timing is the key here!
5. Good PR Takes Time
Many businesses assume that their campaign results are going to be immediate. But good PR takes time. You need to give it at least three to six months to see the benefit. When that benefit comes, it’s not always in the form of instant sales. Just because your company gets featured in a big newspaper doesn’t mean you’ll instantly see a jump in sales. There are two types of PR. One type increases sale; the other builds credibility. Eventually, it will pay off in increased sales and the long life of your company.
Hence, it is clear that Public Relations is any day the most cost-effective way to promote you brand and grow your overall business. If you are unfamiliar with PR, you can work with a public relations agency such as Kent Communications to define and achieve your PR goals. But it is clearly stated that good PR takes time, so it is essential that you start working on a PR strategy as soon as possible. Get in touch with us by filling this form below and we will get back to you soon.
